Is the stock market gambling?
I have been thinking about this for sometime now. I had talked with an older pastor not so long ago who said that if a person in his church won the lottery, the church would not accept any money from them. We started talking about retirement and how the stock market had affected some of his gains from the 90's, that's how we got on the subject of money. How is buying a lottery ticket any different then putting your money into a retirement fund and wait to see what the gains or losses are? Isn't both of them going along the same concept: one puts money into a system hoping to get something in return. Just curious.
posted by gonavy @ 3:03 PM
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In short: Absolutely Not
Think about it this way… When you buy a lottery ticket you are buying only a chance (a very slim one in fact) to win a large pay out. If you do not win your ticket is totally worthless. However, when you by a stock you are actually buying a small piece of ownership in the company. If the company does badly your shares might decline in value. If the company does well they will likely increase in value.
In addition the S&P 500 (a popular index of 500 large cap stocks) has a long term track record of growing at approximately 10% per year -- since its inception. In contrast if you buy a lottery ticket you are virtually guaranteed to loose 100% of your investment. The wise investment is obvious.
For some biblical context read this passage from Matthew 25.
Matthew 25:14 For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, "Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' 21 His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' 22 Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, "Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.' 23 His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' 24 And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 "And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered and said to him, "You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 "Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 "Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' 29 For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (NASB)
I think I will go and invest some of the money the Lord trusted me to manage so that I can be the "good and faithful servant"....
While I don't think God would be pleased with me wasting my money on lottery tickets ( I don't for several reasons), but I think he would be even less pleased if I spent my winnings selfishly and did not use them to do good for others.
Let's see....buy Hummers in all different colors or build orphanages. Which would be more pleasing to God?
I can see where a church would not want to accept such a windfall. First, it would be tough to explain that the new sanctuary was paid for by the lotto. But, I could also see that such a windfall could also cause some problems in how to manage such a sum.
If I ever did win such a large sum, I would give at least 10% but I would do it anonymously so the receiver would not have to deal with the ethical question and I would not be receiving glory for my act of generosity. Does that seem deceptive, though?
Along the same lines, I wonder if the same church that wouldn't accept tithes from lottery winnings would accept them from people who work in industries that don't please God (farmers growing products for cigarettes and beer, people who work in the industries that produce these products, people who work for corrupt governments, etc).
That's a great topic because the issues are so complex. Probably, the best idea is to not engage in gambling. That way you don't have to worry about such issues.
Another possible topic: I heard, that recently, a coach at a religious school nearby was fired because he and his wife divorced. Now he has no livelihood to support his kids. I may not have all the facts right, but that seems pretty harsh at first glance.
Since the topic was the stock market, I would agree with Dave Winslow that it is not necessarily the same as gambling. I have asked myself that question though.
But I think it also depends on how you approach it and the attitude you have. Like Dave said, buying stock is buying a piece of a company. If you invest in several types of stock, then you lower the risk you face. Okay, everything has risks. But if all companies that you were invested in went belly up, then it wouldn't matter how you invested your money, the country and you would be in serious trouble.
I guess another illustration would be this. If you were to go out and start your own business, that would carry a much higher risk of total failure than buying mutual funds. So does that mean business owners are gambling?
Or buying health insurance? You're betting that you will get sick, the insurance company is betting that you won't.
I think the main thing is that you use your money wisely and are obedient to God like Dave said above.
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