I bet you hardly ever gamble

I remember hearing it said in church that shares were just another form of gambling, but is gambling actually that sinful? It's probably stupid most of the time, but it's a fun way to lose money. Where's all the thou shalt not gamble scriptures? We used to get a verbal caning if we hinted at buying a scratchy ticket. I put a used scratch-it ticket in the tithe bag once.

What matters apparently is the gambler's receiving an undeserved gain while others lose. Gambling is, then, a violation of Jesus' most basic commandment. It seems then that praying for gain is just wrong but at the same time, the God Squad say that if we want peace in the Middle East, we should pray for it. So... praying to God for success at gambling cheapens religion and God - but then they already did that by telling people to pray to God for other things instead of putting in the effort to gain them by the sweat of their brow.

Praying for more mundane issues that people face on a daily basis is nothing more than the logical and expected conclusion of a process that started when people were asked to have faith in God rather than in themselves and their own hard work. - Austin Cline

Isn't bank investing just a gamble but with better odds... or any sort of investing? Life is a gamble. Going out for a drive is a big damn gamble sometimes. Our church members seemed to get sucked into every muli-level pyramid marketing scam that came our way - a product of a naive and overly trusting people? I've seen heaps of Christians lose many thousands to pyramid scams... over and over again! The definition of insanity?

Anyway, I remember most pastors in our area to be pretty shrewd stockmarket investers. They have to be, because, honestly, most people I knew didn't tithe much. Heck, as if giving away a good Sunday afternoon wasn't giving enough.

the odds are better with shares, but it's still a gamble. For that matter, buying real-estate can be a bit of a gamble, and many types of investments... and so can walking down King's Cross with a decent Nikes on. My point is - the bible doesn't directly forbid gambling and the actuality of what a gamble is is subjective to the punter.

The following website offers some scriptures, none of which directly forbid gambling. Perhaps this is one of those isues where you have to make up your own mind without tatooing a scripture to the back of your hand.

All I have belongs to God ("The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

The normal means of gaining money is through work ("Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands" - Ephesians 4:28).

It is better to earn money than to gain it quickly ("Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it" - Proverbs 13:11).