Tune into any football or baseball game these days, and you’ll probably see ads for FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM.
Over the last four years, sports betting via smartphone apps has grown to $780 billion wagered annually by 7.3 million daily fantasy bettors. Sports betting is now legally offered through retail and online sportsbooks in 36 states, with several more considering legislation.
As followers of Christ, how should we approach this new reality?
Liberty or Legalism
As Christians, we know that part of life’s purpose is working “out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Like with many other potentially addictive activities, great care should be exercised when navigating sports betting.
However, as R. C. Sproul reminds us, we also must be careful not to make that “subtle move from a passionate concern for godly morality into legalism.” Some Christians (like John Frame) argue that gambling can be a form of entertainment and that when done properly—without addiction, time wasting, covetousness, or worshiping fate—it’s not a problem. Entering that work football pool, for example, is something Frame says is within the bounds of Christian conscience.
On topics of this nature, pastor and The Gospel Coalition Council member Ryan Kelly notes, “Sin is that which violates God’s biblical commandments, not the additions and inventions we make. As Sola Scriptura Christians, our minds, wills, and hearts are directed by God’s revealed will in the Scriptures alone.”
As you approach this topic in your own Christian liberty, let us offer a few things to consider.
Owner or Manager
At the heart of every finance-related question is the question of ownership. It’s abundantly clear that God is the ultimate owner of all, including the physical (such as houses, cars, bank accounts, and 401[k] accounts) and the metaphysical (such as divine image-bearing minds, creative ideas, love, and souls).
Yet one consequence of original sin is the human desire to switch the order of God’s ownership and our stewardship. We seek to claim the first position and relegate God to the second. Any discussion of sports betting must keep this human tendency in the foreground.
Gambling Isn’t Work or Investment
We were made in the image of a creator God, and as a result, we find purpose and meaning in life when we’re involved in God’s restorative and creative activity. Adam and Eve were commissioned to “subdue the earth by extending the cultivated garden beyond the boundaries of Eden,” as Nancy Guthrie says in Even Better than Eden.
One consequence of original sin is the human desire to switch the order of God’s ownership and our stewardship.
Tim Keller puts it this way: “We are continuing God’s work of forming, filling, and subduing. Whenever we bring order out of chaos, whenever we draw out creative potential, whenever we elaborate and ‘unfold’ creation beyond where it was when we found it, we are following God’s pattern of creative cultural development.”
But gambling isn’t work.
Instead, gambling commits God-given resources to an activity that has minimal benefits and involves a significant chance of loss. The bettor takes on risk for which he’s not likely to be compensated. Thus, sports betting isn’t a restorative or creative activity and doesn’t align with God’s provisional plan for humans.
Furthermore, gambling isn’t investing.
People often argue that gambling is no different from investing in the stock market. But this is not true. Investing deploys capital to firms that exercise God-given creativity that hopefully leads to common-grace human flourishing. The focus is more others-minded and long-term than betting. Additionally, money invested in God-honoring companies leads to restorative work.
Work and investing are both activities that, when done properly, add value to the world. Gambling, on the other hand, is a zero-sum game. In other words, the amounts won by some people (game winners and game providers) equals the combined losses of the other people (game losers). As such, gambling doesn’t help us to bring order out of chaos or advance the creation beyond where it was when we found it.
Losing More Than Just Money
God supplies both our physical needs (food and shelter) and psychological needs (meaning in life) through the work we perform. The book of Proverbs is filled with warnings about the negative consequences of slothfulness, such as “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty” (Prov. 28:19).
Gambling doesn’t help us to bring order out of chaos or advance the creation beyond where it was when we found it.
Gambling can lead to poverty of finances but also to poverty of purpose. According to pastor Matt Mason, God has designed us to “come alive in the context of meaningful work that reflects his image, and we thrive as miniature creators and as miniature restorers.”
Sports betting, which falls short of meaningful work, doesn’t allow for this thriving. In fact, the get-rich-quick mentality that motivates many people to gamble is grounded in selfishness that twists our life’s purpose. According to Keller, thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment slowly crushes a person.
Losing by Winning
Additionally, Christians often overlook the consequences of winning, especially winning big. A few studies document lottery winners. As with any other academic research, it’s difficult to disentangle the cultural biases of journal editors and other potential conflicts of interest, especially when there’s a limited number of studies.
However, one study of Florida lottery winners suggests that small winners ($50,000 to $100,000) only delay bankruptcy rather than prevent it. Another study finds that mental health declines after a large lottery win for individuals with low education and low levels of financial literacy.
For all winners, there are levels of stress, guilt, confusion, isolation, and anxiety—so much so that researchers coined the term “sudden wealth syndrome” to describe it.
As Spirit-filled Christians, we can navigate sports betting with wisdom—for some, it may be an addictive struggle to be avoided. For others, it may be an entertaining bridge builder. For all of us, it should be handled with wisdom and appropriate caution.