By: Joel Ramirez
“Follow the money” is an old catchphrase that suggests political corruption can be brought to light by examining money transfers between parties. But this is also a great way to see what people invest their time and efforts into by seeing where they spend their earnings. Last November, I was struck by an article on the largest payout in legal sports betting history to a man who won $75 million after betting on the Baseball World Series. Two key highlights would cause pause for most people, $75 million and “legal sports betting”. Last Sunday was the culmination of the professional football season with the Super Bowl. It is estimated that $16.4 billion (yes billion with a “B”) was placed on legal betting and $4.6 billion on illegal betting for this one event. The history of illegal betting is well documented with ties to the funding of several organized crime outfits that utilize this revenue to continue to perpetuate a slew of sinful activities that have been the downfall of many people. The price tag for the half time show that lasted just over 13 minutes and included the performance of a female musical artist who is known for pushing the boundaries of raunchy antics, foul language and lewd clothing, runs just over $10 million dollars. (For the math whizzes out there, that equates to $128,205.13 per second, but who is counting?) The Super Bowl takes the title as the one day of the year, excluding holidays, when the most alcohol is consumed by Americans. By the way, alcohol manufactures spend more than $760 million dollars every year to promote and sponsor the biggest sports competitions. The last numbers I will give you is $15 billion dollars (there is that “B” again) and 5+ hours. The first is the amount of money spent on professional sports merchandise annually and the second is the time that 25% of Americans dedicate to watching professional sports weekly. That is a lot of money to follow and these are just a few of the figures not considering the total revenue or salaries that are spent on professional sports every year. There is an obvious investment into the sinful and spiritually destructiveness created by this industry. During Jesus’s sermon on the mount, he teaches “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:20-21. Think of the impact on this world if that $15 billion dollars a year and 5+ hours a week were utilized for the spreading and studying of God’s word.
Many of the sports traditions that are seen today have origins in the practices of the Romans. They built amphitheaters to give people a place to gather during their religious festivals and be entertained by watching gladiator fights, animal hunts and even mock naval battles. Wine was served during these events and betting was extremely popular while watching these graphic contests which very often used slaves and prisoners as mortal actors in these brutal deeds. It is important to interject that during these times, being a Christian was illegal and resulted in whole families being imprisoned. There are still the remnants of Christians’ names etched in the walls of the Colosseum with the inscription of “is of the way” to signify that the individuals listed were Christians. Christ warned the apostles in Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of my name” but ends the verse with the promise “but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” It is often speculated that if this persecution by the Romans hadn’t been so severe, Christianity would not have spread so quickly. As Acts 8:1 points out, after the death of Stephen “And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” The spark that is Christianity was fanned by the hostile events of the Jews and then the Romans which only caused the flame to grow in intensity and breadth. As Paul points out in 1st Corinthians 1:25-31 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For the consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty , not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that just as it is written, LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” Although these games were a means of showing the Romans superiority over those subject to them, they did the work of the Lord in helping to push the boundaries of God’s kingdom on earth.
Returning to the issue of gambling we must look at the motivations of men to find the sin in the actions. Nowhere in the Bible is it clearly labeled “thou shall not wager for profit on the conclusions of events or deeds”. I have seen people mistakenly mention the use of the Urim and Thummim in Exodus 28:30 or the several mentions of the casting of lots, namely in Acts 1:26 of the 11 apostles who cast lots to determine who would replace Judas as justification for gambling in the Bible. As God tries to teach man over and over it is not the physical act but the intent of the heart where the sin lies. Jesus makes this point to the Pharisees and scribes who came to Him in Jerusalem when he says “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man”, Matthew 15:11. Jesus goes on to explain to Peter a few verses later “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things that defile the man;” Matthew 15:17-20. We look at Colossians 3:5 to shed light on the intent of the heart in gambling where Paul says “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Does the motivation to gamble come from greed, to gain that which one has not earned, and how does this lead to idolatry? In Romans 8:13, the Holy Spirit through Paul states “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” So, if greed is the motivator, we can clearly see the sin in gambling. And as Paul warned Timothy “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1st Timothy 6:10. We begin to see how the love of money becomes something that we put ahead of God which is what is the definition of an idol. But it is often heard “I only bet on things to make it more interesting”. If we agree that all that we have comes from God, and it is, and our income comes from the abilities that God has given us, and it does, then how can we justify to carelessly put what God has provided to us for the sake of entertaining ourselves? 1st John 3:17 asks “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Now, let us rephrase this statement in another context as “I only jeopardize what God has given me that could be used to help the needs of my brother to make it more interesting for me”. This really changes the perspective of a harmless bet. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” We are tasked as Christians to set ourselves apart from the world. While the world justifies sinful acts as entertainment and it is apparent by where their money and time are spent, which are both gifts from God, we must be careful to ensure that we are being good stewards of these precious gifts. We must also be vigilant to make sure that we do not fall prey to the snares of this world. Like in the parable of the talents, we must work hard to ensure that the Lord will be able to follow our talents to the work we have done in His name on this earth so that we may be rewarded with eternal salvation with our Lord and Savior.