The Super Bowl is the number one betting day of the year---this time with legal wagering predicted over $7 billion. Illegal gambling worldwide will more than double that total. Gambling is not just an American pastime; it’s a world pastime.
I know a few people who gamble regularly, usually in small amounts, and of course they lose more than they win. They may be experiencing some kind of fun or gratification, but the economics of their behavior doesn’t make sense.
I also know a few Christian people who do not believe gambling is wrong or especially hurtful, unless one gambles to excess. I always tell them the burden of proof is on them, not me, because considering gambling immoral is a position consistent with some two thousand years of church history.
I believe gambling violates at least five doctrines of Scripture: the sovereignty of God (Luck and an omniscient, omnipotent God are mutually exclusive concepts), stewardship (We are accountable to God for our time, talent, and treasure), theft (For you and me to win at gambling a lot of others must lose), covetousness (God commands contentment not greed), potentially addictive (The Bible tells us not to allow our minds, bodies, or souls to be brought under the power of anything other than the Spirit of God). [See my book, Gambling: Don’t Bet On It, for more discussion of this topic.]
Football is an enjoyable game, one involving nearly limitless statistics. It’s also a “stop action” game—the game pauses after each down. So football plus television presents gamblers with nearly limitless opportunities to place bets. TV, football, and sports wagering are a dangerous combination. That’s why the NFL is on record with strong condemnations of sports wagering. The League knows that one Chicago “Black Sox” or Pete Rose-type gambling scandal could undermine the game and its legitimate profit making potential for years to come.
Gambling in any form is little more than a time bomb in a pretty package. Gambling in sports is a direct threat to the integrity of the game in terms of fair competition. Wagering on the Super Bowl is, therefore, a bad bet.
© Rex M. Rogers - All Rights Reserved, 2006
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