I got lucky today at McDonald's...Two free McFluries and a Free Breakfast Sandwich! Basically for the price I paid for the meal I got the equivalent in free food for later! This reminded me of a debate in one of my theology classes about gambling. Most Christians will agree that gambling is sin. It is! Is going to McDonald's and buying certain products for the chance to win food, money or other prizes any different than going to the store and buying a lottery ticket? I don't think it is but I have never heard a Christian say I won't play the monopoly game and try to win the million bucks! Part of my debate in class was about the stock market investing and gambling. I understand that Jesus told the parable about the servants and the money they invested (Matthew 25:14-30) so investing is not against the Bible. But is being a bad steward of your investing a sin? The stock market as we know is not a stable investment (Great Depression ring a bell?)
The correlation I am making is that if Christians are willing to put there money in a stock with the "chance" it will make them money, then what is the difference in putting money in the lottery, dog races, or a weekend in Vegas? Obviously the issue is the addiction to gamble. Aren't people addicted with finding the last game piece on monopoly? What are your thoughts?
5 comments:
wow, if you have to ask on the internet if your lottery playing was a sin or not....well you already know the answer.
I suppose next you'll ask if you should keep the winnings or give it to a more needy individual!
This wasn't a post on me playing the lottery...it was a question on whether there is a difference between playing the lottery and playing chance games at Mcdonalds and other places for that matter. Did I say I played the lottery?
I had a parent comment on the lottery thing from your blog last night at Refuge. It made for a good discussion. It was completely positive as well.
Some people make the comment that you could better spend your money by helping someone out. In a lot of states the proceeds go to scholarships for college such as Bright Futures in Florida. I just found out that SC does the same thing as well. So you are helping students out. Should we play it? Well that's your choice. It comes back to addiction, are you buying one ticket a month or 400?
very good discussions everyone...thanks for commenting. on the scholarship thing...my own sweet almamater Baptist College of Florida accepted my scholarship money from the Lottery system...They train ministers and have no problem accepting the financial benefits.
Bill,
You know, I have ZERO respect for folks who leave anonymous, negative comments on blogs. None.
As for you Bill, keep up the good work! Nothing wrong with asking questions and exploring issues. That's part of what blogging is about, isn't it?!
David
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