← The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
#331 - David Pollack // Sports Gambling And The Christian Conscience
00:05:20
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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
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Hey guys, David Pollock here, Day three, filling in for Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson. And this is an area that I think is going to be very interesting. I'll be interesting to see how it's received because it's kind of a gray area, but it's an area that's really, is attacking our families. And it's the fastest growing addiction in America. It's destroying young men. I mean really, really prevalent with young men. And it's sports gambling and it's growing faster than porn, than drugs, than alcohol and it's all over the place. And I think it's a gray area because what are gray areas? Gray areas, those things in life that the Bible doesn't specifically speak to. So how do we have a clear, concise conviction of it and what we're supposed to believe? And so I got offered an opportunity for my podcast to make a lot of money for a gambling site to be, you know, my main sponsor. And the first thing I did was try to justify it. And first thing I did was like, it's not that big of a deal. And grabbed, actually grabbed four buddies and we went and sat down and we hashed some things out and we came up with some really good, you know, things that, you know, I'm not going to tell you what to believe, but some give you some information. The Bible does not directly forbid gambling, but it does warn against sin related to greed, covetousness and get rich quick schemes. Right? Those are talked about. The Bible teaches us that we should trust God with our provision and not rely on luck. And it also teaches us to work hard to be good stewards with our resources and to be content with God's blessings in our lives. To be good stewards with our resources is that being a good steward with your resource? The Bible also teaches us, and this is the biggest one to me and probably leaving the meeting with my buddies, this is the one that stuck out the most. The Bible teaches us that we're to love our neighbor and to be others centered. And so when I was talking about sports gambling, and here's what I was talking about, if I bet on the Cowboys and they bet on the packers and I'm cheering for the packers, but in order for the packer or the Cowboys? Excuse me, I'm cheering for the Cowboys. In order for the Cowboys to win, the packers have to lose. So in order for me to win, someone else has to lose. And that doesn't really, you know, sit well with me. You know what else? Like gambling, it fosters a desire for more, right? Like once you win, you want more, and you want more again, and how much is enough? And it's always just a little bit more until what happens? You lose. And, you know, teenagers, obviously, they're. They're. They're learning all this stuff on the fly. So I think it's really, really hard for them. And it's hard to expl. Too. There's nothing wrong with money. What does it talk about? It's the love of money. God gave many of us the ability to make a lot of money. That is not a bad thing. That's a great thing, you know, but it's loving that money, you know, more than. Obviously, sometimes we have a tendency to love it more than anything else and to have the ability to do what we want when we want. A couple of Bible verses to think about. Then he said to them, when watch out. Be on guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in abundance, in an abundance of possessions. That's Luke 12:15, Exodus 20:17. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. So just a couple other verses and things to think about that, you know, how does this fit into the way I look through the lens of gambling? Philippians 2, 3 and 4. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility. Value others above yourself, not looking to your own interest, but each of you to the interest of others. Hard thing to do sometimes for all of us. Hebrews 13:5. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you again. You're not going to find, you know, the area in the Bible where it says, do not gamble. You know, gambling is evil. Gambling is the biggest sin. But I think we will find some places where, you know, being content is a godly virtue. It's a mark of spiritual maturity. The love of money becomes the root of evil. And loving money more than loving God is a sin. And I don't. I'm not saying all these things apply to gambling, you know, as to you and to everybody, but it is some things to think about in the lens of of how we view gambling.
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