RI Council of Churches opposes gambling

I received this statement from the RI Council of Churches today via email. Ordinarily I'd just link to the statement on their website, but it's not there yet. Please do have a look at their website to learn more about what they do. If you haven't heard, by the way, the Rev'd John Holt is no longer running the place. The current (interim) director is the Rev'd H. A. Pedersen.

Here's the full statement on gambling:

The people of God live neither by chance nor by fate, but rather by the grace of God, and through the victory of Jesus Christ. The plan for our lives as indeed the intended final destination of all humanity is God’s plan, wrought according to God’s decrees in creation, in the creating of humanity in God’s image, and in the redemption of that humanity by God’s Son, our Risen Lord. In the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who spoke through the prophets, discloses God’s will and empowers God’s people to live according to God’s plan and God calls them in this life to bear witness to this good news. This is not a matter of coincidence, or of accident, or of mere fortune.

Games involving throwing dice or other objects were known in biblical times. These games extended to gambling but are only mentioned in reference to Jesus’ clothes (John 19:24). “Casting lots” was a cultural way of determining responsibility and a religious way to know God’s will (Nahum 3:10); (Joshua 18:6); (Acts 1:26). “Casting lots” is never endorsed as a way to get money.

Covetousness and greed, which motivate gambling, are strongly condemned by biblical ethics as contrary to trusting God for our daily bread. Sustenance is the blessing of God (Matthew 6:31-34) and the result of work (Ephesians 4:28). Gambling’s glorification of mere chance denies divine order in nature and disregards the insistence of the church of every age that possessions are entrusted to us and we are accountable for their use. The persistent appeal to self-satisfaction is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which was taught by Jesus Christ and the Bible.