Stewardship and the Sin of Fantasy Sports Gambling

I would remind our young friend that he has one single life to live on this earth for the glory of Christ and then comes eternity he never gets a redo every day is invested well or is lost forever every breath you take every minute of life you have is a free gift of God and a trust a stewardship which God says should be lived for his glory for the magnifying of his son. [00:01:55]

Innocent games can be helpful they can be a helpful refreshment to the mind they can be a sweetening for relationships especially with kids I would say it can be a taste of heaven and fellowship but in themselves in a fallen needy miserable tragic dying hell-bent world like ours they have very little significance. [00:02:24]

The degree to which a person is absorbed in an unreal world to that degree he needs to give an account for how his living in an unreal world is making his real world impact greater for the good of people and the glory of God. [00:03:31]

The Bible refers to the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews 3:13 that should send off alarms in his mind because deceit is essentially creating a sense that what is unreal is more to be desired than what is real. [00:03:56]

There is good evidence that our young friend has already entered a seriously blinding fog when he calls putting down $50 a week modest gambling he's lost touch with reality this is not modest a nickel might be modest this is serious $50 a week is $200 a month $2,400 a year. [00:04:36]

The desire to get more money by putting other people's money at risk and doing no biblically warranted wholesome work is certainly the sign of at least an incipient desire to get rich which the Bible says is suicidal first Timothy 6-9 those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. [00:06:04]

Our young friend needs to pause and remember none of his money belongs to him ultimately it all belongs to God 1st chronicles 29 14 all things come from you and of your own have we given you and I would say quite bluntly and forthrightly and confidently you have no right to risk God's money this way. [00:06:41]

Faithful trustees may not gamble with the Trust Fund in the parable of the talents Jesus says that he will take account for how we have handled his resources which belonged to him to gamble with God's money on trivialities like this is a kind of embezzlement. [00:07:16]

Gambling is a massive social sickness in our culture bringing millions and millions of people to ruin especially the poor it sucks on the poor more than anyone else the people who can least afford it I don't think Christians should be a part of the entire system of lotteries and casinos and online gambling of any sort. [00:07:41]

There is a vastly better way for our friend to find joy in how he uses fifty dollars a week the lowest form of the argument would simply be this if at age 25 you put away $50 a week into a well invested stock fund you will with almost no risk have 237 thousand dollars in the bank when you are 50 years old. [00:08:20]

Better better than that would probably be since our friend seems to have so much discretionary money what gloriously happy helpful good deeds could you do in people's lives as you creatively sought out use all that fantasy creativity and excellence seek out ways to invest $50 a week $200 a month in the causes of justice and gospel spreading and relief of suffering. [00:08:56]

Believe me friend it is more blessed to give than to receive or to invest creatively in the eternal joys of other people than to play with God's money in the dream world of fantasy football. [00:09:46]