Sep 03 2008
Would you accept Lottery Winnings?
[CBS 11]
A Long Island pastor says one of his congregants donated a lottery ticket to his church just after scratching it off and realizing it was worth $3 million.
Pastor Bertrand Crabbe of the True North Community Church of Port Jefferson says the donor, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “This was why God put the ticket in his hands.”
Read about it here.
[From me]
Would your church accept a donation from Lottery winnings? How about a trip to Vegas? I heard a pastor was once asked if he would accept lottery winnings and he said, “yes, the devil has had it long enough.”
What do you think?
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16 responses so far
I think any church would take a “donation.” There is no lottery in Alabama, but I firmly believe they’d take the money or a “tithe.”
yes, I would accept it, no reason not.
Joe Miller’s last blog post..Logos for Mac in Beta
I’m not a pastor, but if someone gave me a lottery ticket that was a winner, I could not accept the money. I might just give it to the Red Cross or some other charity of that sort.
I have told my class that I cannot teach against gambling and then profit from its’ proceeds. Otherwise I could not ever stand in front of a class again.
Bob Cleveland’s last blog post..Supreme. Again . (Part II)
Bob,
How would you know unless they said they got it from gambling? Just wondering.
Kevin Bussey’s last blog post..Would you accept Lottery Winnings?
Romans 8:28! He works ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Further, aren’t we assured that the wealth of the “wicked” will be given into the hands of the righteous? I’d say take “bad” $ and use it for the good of the kingdom!
I’d want it to go to those in need, kindof like the person who anonymously mailed a winning McDonald’s monopoly ticket to St. Jude’s.
Texas in Africa’s last blog post..moose hunting!
No, I would not take it. I do not approve of gambling and to take it would be to encourage it.
Les Puryear’s last blog post..Check Out Our Snazzy New Website
Count me in on the “The Devil’s Had It Long Enough” side.
bloginafogpastor’s last blog post..Hope vs. Expectations
Is having insurance gambling?
Insurance isn’t gambling, it’s a transfer of risk to another party willing to assume the risk for you.
How can you preach against gambling and accept the “gains” from it? Doesn’t seem to compute!
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..How Does It Feel?
Rob,
Let’s say I set up a betting agency. My agency offers the opportunity for you to bet on your chances of having a genuine car accident over the period of a month. I calculate the odds based on your sex, age, location and previous driving experience and offer to pay you against those odds if you should happen to have a genuine accident. I also offer on-going monthly bets with the occasional recalculation of the odds.
Now, what’s the difference (other than semantics) between this and car insurance?
Damian,
My definition of insurance is widely accepted in the world of business and finance, for pete’s sake I even work for a large insurance company. I’m not going to participate anymore in this discussion because you are throwing out straw men.
Rob, this is no strawman argument; it’s a genuine question. If it were a strawman all you’d have to do is point out where I am misrepresenting the issue. Which you haven’t.
The only difference I can discern between gambling and insurance is the amount of pleasure involved. Traditional gambling is placing money against the odds of a random(ish) event happening in your favour. Insurance is placing money against the odds of a random(ish) event happening to your detriment. Both involve a monetary payout. Both are calculated against odds. One is fun, one is not.
So, I think the question is a valid one and there’s no need to get upset about it.
Perhaps the fundamental difference is that if you don’t gamble you don’t stand to lose anything but if you don’t insure you stand to lose a lot?
Those here who state a moral issue with gambling: is your reasoning Biblically-based or is it just common sense based on how some people can become addicted to the buzz of gambling and thus waste money? If so, what would be the issue with receiving money from someone who’s won (especially if you can see that they don’t have an addiction to gambling)?
Damian,
The difference between insurance and gambling is that gambling is exchanging a small sum for the chance at a large payout - to the better, and insurance when it pays out it only replaces a loss that has occurred. Insurance is purchasing peace of mind - that you don’t have to set aside large sums of money to replace your stuff should you lose it to a catastrophe.
The biblical world view towards gambling is that Christ followers believe there is no such thing as luck. That God knows all and controls all, if there were such as a thing as luck, that would be admitting that God wasn’t in control of everything. The common sense part is with most studies I’ve read about in news articles and from faith based organizations have come to the conclusion that gambling leads to higher crime rates, higher substance abuse rates, family dysfunction. I don’t have anything to link to that would back this up, but a Google search should find plenty.
But Rob! - if you believe that God is in complete control and that there is no such thing as luck, than you must also believe that any misfortune to your property or your family’s health is the will of God (since no one, not even the devil, is capable of violating God’s will). I’m guessing you don’t believe that God is ambivalent about your well being, so you wouldn’t believe that any misfortune is simply an oversight on God’s part (which would constitute a gap it God’s will in which luck could operate).
Buying insurance for the purpose of changing what God wanted to happen would be no less than a rebellious act, since it would be a plot to change what God willed. It is paramount to planning to take back whatever God decides to take from you.