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Greg Hogan was the president of Lehigh University’s class of 2008. The son of a preacher, he was active in university life at this prestigious Pennsylvania school.
Hogan pleaded guilty this summer to felony robbery. He held up an Allentown bank before orchestra practice. The reason for the stick-up? The former class president had run up $5,000 in debts from online poker.
“I think this incident was a cry for help from Greg,” said attorney John Waldron, noting that he wore no mask and did not have a weapon. “He wanted to get caught.”
According to pokerpulse.com, the average number of daily online gamblers was 367,247 in 2005. They wagered a staggering $34.2 billion in that year alone.
The flash of poker’s web domain lures millions of Americans to the idea of getting rich quick. Television tournaments such at the World Series of Poker have found resonance among the youth of America. According to a study of the Annenburg Public Policy Center, some 2.9 million people between the ages of 14 and 22 play cards for money every week. About a fifth of those gamble online at least once a month.
Christians & Online Gambling?
Some seem to revel in the modern-day success and glitz of poker and online gambling. One college student in New Jersey speaks of “paying his way through school” by playing online poker. Others talk about the thrill of gambling as if it were another form of entertainment –– costly at times, but still exciting.
While the Christian scriptures clearly frown upon many vices, gambling is not specifically listed among them. When Paul lists the “wrongdoers who will not inherit the kingdom of God” in 1 Corinthians 6, he does not include gamblers. And gambling is not recorded among the “works of the flesh” in Galatians 5:19-21. Scripture is silent on this issue. Should we be silent, too? For me as a follower of Jesus, the warning against wagering and “gaming” is crystal clear.
First, the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament strongly condemns both laziness and profit that one obtains through deceit –– and both seem to be key elements of gambling. “Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6). “The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin” (Proverbs 10:16).
Jack Whitaker was the winner of the single largest payout in Powerball history: $314 million. He had been a hard working man, always rising at 4:30 a.m. to go to work. The tragedies that followed his “win” are well documented: several arrests, fights at area night clubs, charges of sexual harassment and fondling, the drug-overdose death of his granddaughter, and the end of his 40-year marriage. His ex-wife told a newspaper reporter, “I wish I would have torn the ticket up.” Is hitting the jackpot really such a good thing?
Second, the way of Jesus demands that I live my life to the praise of His glory. I am no longer my own person. Jesus freed me from sin so that I can be a slave to righteousness. As Adam and Eve clearly demonstrate to us in Genesis 3, we are not to be our own masters. Paul wrote, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Elsewhere, Paul taught, “Put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by lusts … clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4 22-24).
Does gambling (online or otherwise) bring glory to God? Am I truly being a good steward of the talents and resources that He gives me?
Is it “wrong” to play poker online? Probably not. But is it wise to spend your time and money trying to “strike it rich” through gambling? Absolutely not. You belong to Christ. Live your life for Him.
Jason Locke served as Student Director of the University Christian Student Center at Tennessee Tech University while completing his B.S. Mechanical Engineering (1989). Then was a missionary to Prague, Czech Republic before returning to the U.S. to marry Julie Anderson (1992) and to complete a M.S. in Missions and a Master of Divinity from Abilene Christian University. In 1994, they returned to Prague on a church planting team and stayed until 2000. Since 2001, Jason has served as campus minister to West Virginia University (Mountaineers for Christ), in Morgantown, WV. He also serves on the Campus CrossWalk board as directory and news editor.
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