My wife wants to play a slot machine for about 15 minutes. She wants to give any money she might win to those in our community who are needy. This does not affect our regular contributions. This will be a one time occasion.<\/p>\n
I am personally not comfortable with her doing this but she sees no harm in a one time occasion. If I agree to be a part of this, what does that say about me? I want no secret sin in my life and she does not either. Are we setting the right example for others if they find out?<\/p>\n\t
The root problem is that your wife is not convinced that gambling is wrong. Imagine someone making similar arguments for some other sin, such as lying or stealing. See:<\/p>\n
What particularly struck me is how your wife thinks to justify something she knows to be, at minimum, questionable.<\/p>\n
How long an action is done doesn’t determine whether it is sinful or not. Most sins don’t take all that long to commit. How long does it take someone to commit murder or to tell a lie?<\/p>\n
Morality doesn’t change based on intentions. Even if we were trying to do good, something sinful remains sinful. For example,\u00a0David wanted to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem, but he didn\u2019t move it in accordance with God’s laws. He put it on a cart instead of being carried by poles on the shoulders of priests. As a result, a plague was sent upon Israel for David’s sin (II Samuel 6:1-10).<\/p>\n
It was this very excuse that God forestalled by not permitting contributions to the Temple from prostitution (Deuteronomy 23:18).<\/p>\n
This excuse is used to excuse sexual sins. \u201cIt was consensual,\u201d “No one was hurt,” and so it is argued that it wasn’t wrong. But Paul points out that even if no else was harm, your soul was damaged by your sin (I Corinthians 6:13-20).<\/p>\n
Achan only stole one time that we are told about, yet he and his family died because of his sin (Joshua 7:25-26). David committed adultery with Bathsheba just one time and it led to her husband’s death, the death of their child, and a coupe by one of David’s sons (II Samuel 11-12). How many times something is done doesn’t determine whether it is righteous or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: My wife wants to play a slot machine for about 15 minutes. She wants to give any money she might win to those in our community who are needy. This does not affect our regular contributions. This will be a one time occasion. I am personally not comfortable with her doing this but she…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[815,38,179],"class_list":["post-22704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-gambling","tag-morality","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-gamble-so-what-should-i-do-with-gifts-of-lottery-tickets\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":0},"title":"I don’t gamble, so what should I do with gifts of lottery tickets?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My fianc\u00e9e was given lottery tickets at work. We share the same stance on the principles of gambling. My family also likes to give lottery tickets for Christmas. This is my first Christmas being a member of the Lord's church. How would you suggest Christians handle gifts like that?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8004,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-idea-anything-you-do-in-moderation-is-not-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":1},"title":"What do you think about the idea “anything you do in moderation is not a sin?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My sister and her husband patronize the gambling casino's at least 2 or 3 times a week. I mentioned to them that I feel that gambling is a sin.\u00a0 My brother-in-law's answer was, \"anything you do in moderation is not a sin.\"\u00a0 I do not believe this to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-win-money-from-a-casino\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to win money from a casino?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I basically gamble for money. I gamble on major league baseball and nothing else. I consistently win, having a 58% winning rate, going on two years straight. I am not trying to brag; I just want to tell you where I am and how I feel about this. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38533,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-christian-gamble\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":3},"title":"Should a Christian Gamble?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by R. J. Evans In 1931, the state of Nevada legalized most forms of gambling. The city of Las Vegas, in particular, became the center of gambling in the U.S. Over the course of time, it has been referred to as \"Sin City\", which is not surprising. Now, the city\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28419,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-with-gambling\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":4},"title":"The Problem with Gambling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford In April of last year, the state legislature of Tennessee legalized online betting on sports. In November of this year, four online sportsbooks were approved to operate in Tennessee for the first time. Not surprisingly, since that time, we've been bombarded with ads trying to entice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gambling-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":85664,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-christian-and-gambling\/","url_meta":{"origin":22704,"position":5},"title":"The Christian and Gambling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 2, June 30, 1990 More States in our Union are adopting state-operated lotteries to increase revenue. Every citizen of every state, especially Christians, must understand the issues involved. This is not being written to influence anyone politically but rather to urge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}