gambling and giving
What is the church's stance on casino gambling? I don't do it very often, but I recently won $450 on a slot machine. I gave a chunk of my winnings to my church. Is it bad to use gambling money to give to church? I always thought that if I'd ever win a lottery, I would donate a whole bunch of it to the church to use for mission work. I doubt that will ever happen, but would the church even accept money that came from a lottery? Or would I have to give it to them without saying where it came from? Thank you for your time.
The Bible does not specifically address gambling, but does speak of greed and covetousness that can easily and often be associated with gambling. In addition, the Bible instructs us not to squander the resources that God has entrusted to us, but rather use them to provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), to pay taxes (Romans 13:6-7), to give back to the Lord and his church (1 Corinthians 16:2) and to help those who have needs (1 John 3:17).
As might be expected, Scripture does not address the matter of a church receiving gifts that originated from lottery or gambling proceeds that are not tainted by sinful motives or actions. Usually congregations do not know the source of members’ offerings. If you were to win a large sum of money and considered giving part of it to your church, I could foresee conscience playing a role in whether or not you revealed the source of that gift. And while consciences of congregational leaders might play a role in receiving that gift, the church could receive your gift with the knowledge that the giving was done in faith and motivated by love and gratitude for God’s grace in Christ.