Pay to Play: A Practical Guide to Addressing Gambling in the Church

Southern Baptist churches have consistently opposed this vice

Since the 19th century, the Southern Baptist Convention has condemned gambling as a serious vice. The Convention has clearly and consistently spoken out against laws that enable the exploitative practices of the gambling industry, ranging from state lotteries to the government sponsorship of casinos. The most recent resolution, issued at the 2017 Annual Meeting, emphasized the sinful nature of gambling through its promotion of idolatry, covetousness, poor stewardship, and addiction.

Southern Baptists’ committed opposition to gambling is more important now than ever, especially considering the recent overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). This federal law banned most sports betting in the United States from 1992 until the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Murphy v. NCAA. Following this case, 38 states and the District of Columbia quickly legalized sports gambling amid promises of increased state revenue.

Sports gambling is a detriment to families

The impact of sports gambling on American life and culture since the overturning of PASPA has been overwhelmingly detrimental to individuals, families, and society. According to a Seton Hall University poll, more than 1 in 3 Americans are now betting on sports. As a result of this rapid expansion, we have witnessed significant increases in many societal ills, including financial ruin, addiction, and domestic violence.

These are tangible outgrowths of the gambling industry’s new footholds in our culture, plaguing the everyday lives of millions of people—including Southern Baptist church members. The primary purpose of this church guide is to come alongside pastors and other church leaders to help them as they provide spiritual guidance to their members regarding gambling and its related vices.

This task seems daunting. In just the few short years since sports betting was legalized in most states, exploitative gambling companies like DraftKings and FanDuel have become so embedded in sports programming that it seems impossible to disentangle. Many leaders recognize the dangers of the gambling industry and the horrific outcomes it spawns but may not be sure how to strategically stand against legalization or how to best minister to those caught in the snare of gambling’s addictive power.

Scriptural principles to guide thinking about gambling

Here at the ERLC, we want to serve your churches well. Our hope is that this guide will do that by functioning as a starting point for you and your church as you tackle this issue. In it, we begin by establishing scriptural principles to guide thinking about gambling and then move on to provide practical guidance for several challenging scenarios. Given its explosive growth in recent years, we primarily address sports betting. However, the theological framework found in the guide is applicable to the entire gambling industry. 

Southern Baptists have repeatedly affirmed their opposition not just to the gambling industry but also to the practice of gambling itself. Therefore, a point of clarification as to the use of the term “gambling” is helpful. Gambling is typically defined as the risking of money or other objects of value in order to gain further reward based on uncertain outcomes of games or bets. Generally, that reward involves winning at the expense of others, most often in games of chance. Definitions are never perfect, and even this definition excludes some practices that we would consider problematic. Thus, we recognize there is some complexity in determining whether certain activities are “gambling” and acknowledge the need for Christian liberty regarding whether they should always be considered off-limits for Christians. Even in such cases, we advise caution. Some activities may be “permissible,” but not “beneficial” (1 Cor. 10:22), and you will see us warn against them in the pages that follow because the risk is great. The long-held Southern Baptist position—that gambling is sinful in all its forms because it inherently encourages and thrives on vice, wrecking lives and destroying families—remains true. 

The battle to end the gambling industry’s predation is sure to be hard fought, a long road marked by small-yet-significant steps forward. Despite the challenges, we must press forward, confident that our opposition to legalized gambling is rooted in God’s Word. At the same time, we must come alongside those caught in gambling’s snare, ministering to them, and exhorting them toward godliness. We hope that this guide provides help in both areas.