Scratch Off … the List

Scriptures:  Prov 3:5, 21:5; 1 Tim 6:9-10

Playing the lottery, is this something we should avoid? Can it really hurt to buy those scratch-off tickets every now again or give them as gifts? Does this encourage a wrong behavior?

I may be hitting a little close to home on this topic as I suspect many of us don’t think of buying one of those scratch-off lottery tickets as something wrong.  And this is a hard one because you could say to me: “I don’t have any debt and I think it is fun to buy them, because who knows, I might win. And if I win … I would give most of it away.”  And who would argue with you? 

Others might say: “I would be able to get out of debt; I could pay off my mortgage too.  Doesn’t God want me to be out of debt?”

And yet too often, I have read the sad stories of those who won lotteries only to lose it all and then some.  (Don’t believe me, try Googling: “lottery winners where are they now”)

But you will tell me: “I won’t be like these people. I know how to manage my money.”  While this may be true, I would like you read on.

Here are a few things I feel you need to evaluate before playing the lottery.

1.    What are your true motives?  If you come up with one or two, ask yourself: Really? (The hardest thing to do sometimes is to be honest with oneself, especially when we are surrounded by so much materialism.)

2.    And if your motives are truly God-given, do you believe that God would use a lottery to bless you with such a tremendous fortune that he would use the poor to finance your operation?  (Study after study proves that the poor are the most active purchasers of lottery tickets – the lottery commissions who run the lotteries plan it that way.)

3.    Lotteries are government run forms of legalized gambling.  The vast amounts of money collected by a lottery commission go for the commission’s expenses; only a small amount that is collected is paid out in winnings – An important definition to be reminded of here is: money that is needed to cover government expenses is called a tax.  Should the government be promoting gambling? Do you want to be a part of it by paying the tax?

4.    Aren’t lotteries simply Get-Rich Schemes in disguise, designed to circumvent hard work and God’s true blessings?

5.    Given the astronomical odds (on the order of 13,000,000 to 1) against winning a big lottery jackpot, you turn out to be a loser most of the time! And if you are a loser all of the time, then isn’t this kind of crazy!  

6.    Actually, the odds of becoming a compulsive gambler are 1 in 10 when you play lotteries – a rather disconcerting and more likely outcome. Do you want to take that chance?  “A lottery is to gambling addiction what marijuana is to drug addiction.”  Emmett Henderson, Georgia Council on Moral and Civic Concerns

7.    Lastly, when we give lottery tickets as a gift, are you potentially creating a slippery slope for someone else, who may succumb to the lure of getting rich quick? (Think about how many of those scratch-off lottery tickets let you win often enough to keep you coming back for more.) 

When you consider all of these facts and issues, I have one question left: Is it right to entice someone to gain money when it comes at the certain loss of others (millions of others)?  I hope that you rise up in seething anger at this thought, knowing that Jesus would have never done such a thing.  Yet, this is exactly what a lottery is. 

Not convinced yet?

Then, if you are a person who plays the lottery, I want you to save every one of your losing tickets in a jar.  And for every one of your winning tickets, place an index card with the amount you won written on it into the same jar (remember, you have to turn in your winning ticket to collect your winnings).  At the end of a month, write down the cost of the losing tickets and compare that against your winnings.  And then ask yourself: Are there better ways of spending that money?  Because, odds are, you walked away a loser! And if you won, then run repeat the exercise the next month, keeping a grand total along with your monthly totals. Again, the odds are, you have walked away the loser.

For a great article on gambling & lotteries check out the Crown Financial Ministries review of Scripture by clicking here.

Competing Demands … Seek Advice

Scriptures: Prov 12:15, 15:22, 19:20; Eccl 4:13

How many times in a day is someone or something competing for the money in your wallet?  The fact is we are inundated with financial requests!  How do you decide who gets what? Who do you seek out for help? 

The requests come from everywhere and everyone: our spouse, our children, our desires, charities, politicians, investments and more!  All of them require us to disburse our money.  And there is only so much to go around. 

So, where do you turn for advice on how to spend your money?  I suspect that for most of us, we don’t give it too much thought.  But Dave Ramsey would say, every penny, every dollar should have a name on it.  And that name originates from your budget. But every budget is not the same; in fact, a budget will change depending on how old you are. 

Your age drives your spending habits and will be reflected in your budget. When you buy a home (typically 35% of your budget and your available income - money left after tithe and taxes), your budget won’t have much room for much else.  Hopefully, no matter what your age, you are setting money aside for saving.

Well, how much money you will save and where to put that money (e.g. basic savings account, time deposit CD, stocks or bonds etc.), makes for a great example for us to demonstrate the principle of seeking wisdom.

The budget will only dictate how much to save.  And today, there is very little incentive coming from the financial institutions to save, with savings interest rates at essentially zero.  But Scripture is clear – we should be saving for the future.

Where to save your money is just as important of a question.  Even Jesus suggested that one should invest our money instead of just burying in the ground.  But should you put your savings into risky investments?  This is when seeking out good counsel is most important.

There are various sources one turns for wisdom and for Christians it should first be to God’s Word.  A great book you should reference is The Word on Finance by Larry Burkett. Larry compiled over 1000 verses from Scripture and grouped them according to the applicable financial topic. 

Scripture unfortunately cannot speak to which financial instrument to use for your savings; much less on how much money to spend on food, clothing, our cars and so on.  So, where do you turn now? 

First and foremost, if you are married, you should consult with your spouse.  Genesis 2:24 suggests that you and your spouse need to be of one flesh.  One way you do this is in your finances.  A successful marriage is one where financial decisions are made together.  (I know of some couples that keep separate bank accounts so as to keep spending habits hidden from each other.  I do not advocate this nor do I personally subscribe to it.) 

Another source is typically your parents.  Now I have heard people say that their parents are clueless about financial matters.  While this may be true, ask anyway.  You may be surprised at what they do know.  It may not be their personal experience but they may know of someone who has been faced with a similar decision.  If so, then seek out those people.

Lastly, I would seek out wisdom from a Christian financial planner or simply a Christian friend who has been financially successful.  The financial planners are trained in the effectiveness of numerous financial instruments and can definitely guide your decision. 

Up until now I have been talking about seeking wisdom in making financial decisions. The wisdom you have received must be weighed and then listened to.  Proverbs 12:15 tells us that it is the wise who listens  to the counsel we receive.  And so it should be with us – especially when it is corroborated in Scripture. 

And what happens when we disagree with the counsel we receive, when we don’t want to take the advice?  Well, then I would say you have to truly examine your motives as to why you want to go contrary to the wisdom.  It may not be pretty and most likely will require wrestling with God.  (I would rather walk away with a dislocated thigh than to meet with financial ruin by making a wrong decision.)

So, does the need to seek out counsel only apply to how to save your money?  Of course not!  I just used this as an example.  Seeking out wisdom should apply to every area of our financial stewardship; whether it concerns buying a car or a house, when to start a 401K, or what college to attend.  If it involves spending money, then you should seek counsel, especially when it involves big money.