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I know that I probably just can’t understand, since it really has no pull on me, but one more Thing That [Is] Weird to me is how much of an aversion some folks have to gambling on any level. Not just Christian, “God hates gamblers” folks. Regular folks who feel like any wagering is fruitless, and even dangerous. Can’t it just be a fun way to spend money (and possibly make some?) just like going to a movie, or an amusement park or something? (Perhaps those games at amusement parks are equal to gambling? Odds are just as good…..) 🙂
Just one more of the many Things That Are Weird.
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What you’ve stumbled on here is a little something I like to call the gateway sin. I think they’re referenced somewhere in Nahum, but maybe it’s Habukkuk.
Anyway, the gist of it is that we are all incredibly weak and stupid and if we were to do something that isn’t really a sin, it might lead to a sin. Thou shalt not play cards, for then thou shalt gamble all thy earnings and visit Las Vegas…SIN CITY. Thou shalt not listen to rock music for thou shalt surely shake thy hips in a way that will make others lust. Thou shalt wear only thy finest clothes for church on Sunday, for surely Jesus himself wore the finest of robes. I find the whole thing quite humerous…especially since I have lots of family in the South (where it is known that Jesus hates instruments in worship and only used the red hymnal).
I like to imagine my Saviour actually walked places instead of floating everywhere. I like to think he said a lot of cool, deep things and then busted out an interupting cow knock knock joke on Peter. And, yes, I like to think he had fun every now and then too. I bet he danced the chicken dance or electric slide at weddings. I think he probably played games like I spy when he was walking all over the Middle East.
The real question to me is could Jesus Christ play poker? I’ve read some early theories by Pope Urban that he would have stunk at poker because he couldn’t bluff. I like to think that he would have been the ultimate because, honestly, how do you bluff Jesus Christ? And is it really lying to bluff? I don’t think it is because you are leaving it to the person to assume what’s in your hand.
Anyway…that’s what I think about it.
I thought part of the aversion was the whole “soldiers casting lots over Jesus’ clothes” thing in the gospel.
-heent
Ha! Gateway Sin. Nice. 🙂
Actually, I can’t remember who I heard talking about it… I think it was a sports show or something? Oh! It was a podcast. The dude said, “But seriously…. don’t gamble” about some strange wager people were making… it was not in any sort of religious context.
I know religious folk freak out about many things. And most have “scriptural backing” 🙂
So, my “thing that is weird” was that there’s a more general aversion to gambling culturally than just among the religious folk.
But your answers were both good, too. 🙂
Greg,
Gambling is not a sin, and God does not work through LUCK anyway. Jer. 29:11. Try Living Under Christs Kindness.
Anyway, think of it as a tax on the poor.