Wife’s potential employment

My wife is looking at working in a capacity that would promote a casino/resort. Initially, I thought it could be fine. The Bible does not explicitly forbid gambling. (That does not make it right, however.) The casino is one part of the resort's activities. One could run into a similar problem promoting a hospital that performs abortions (but "abortions" are not what one thinks when they hear the word "hospital," whereas when one hears "casino" they think "gambling") or owning a liquor store. What are your thoughts on such a situation? I understand that if one has doubts, one should not go against their conscience. That is another little wrinkle. My wife doesn't really have doubts, citing biblical examples of people who worked within sinful organizations, such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach and Abedego, etc. I'm the one trying to clear my doubts. I've also consulted my pastor, but I am looking for further input. Thanks.

You are correct in putting this situation in the area of one’s conscience. While the Bible does not specifically address the subject of gambling, the Bible does warn against greed (Luke 12:15) and instruct us to look not only to our own interests but the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). Against the backdrop of passages like those and others, Christians might arrive at different conclusions about the appropriateness of working at a casino/resort.

I am going to pursue one of the thoughts you passed along, and that is that “the casino is one part of the resort’s activities.” There certainly may be guests/customers who visit that place of business only to visit the casino because they are motivated by greed and concern only for their lives. There may be other guests/customers who visit that place of business for entertainment, recreational activities, meals or relaxation. An employee at such a business is bound to interact with some people with attitudes of greed or unselfishness. But that is true of some other—perhaps, unlikely—businesses.

An employee at a convenience store/gas station might ring up a lot of sales in gasoline, food and…lottery tickets. Perhaps there are regular customers who load up on lottery tickets on a predictable schedule. Those people are not going to casinos to gamble; they’re simply stopping at a gas station on the way home to gamble. The employee interacts with customers who have different attitudes toward money.

Another employee in a brokerage firm is part of a support team that provides services for conservative and savvy investors—and perhaps also for people who look upon day trading as sophisticated gambling. Those people take great financial risks to get more and more money. The employee is part of a company that serves people who have different attitudes toward money. Those are just a couple examples of employees who provide products that greedy people can abuse.

The biblical examples your wife cited do illustrate God-fearing people who were able to maintain their faith in and devotion to God while being in the employ of foreign, ungodly governments. Certainly, their involvement in those governments was not an endorsement of all the governments’ activities.

So where are we after all this? You and your wife need to sort out what the concerns of her possible employment are, how legitimate those concerns are and how serious they might be. You want to arrive at a consensus so that there is not a wedge of any kind between the two of you. Prayerfully determine how both of you can use life to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31) by serving others (Galatians 6:10). I will offer similar prayer.