This is not intended to be a another pious rail against gambling from one more judgmental Christian that seemingly has lost touch with the reality of the world, I just simply want to ask the question, “why is the church body sanctioning, supporting, and ultimately using (in some form or another) money given to God, by means of tithe or gifts, given through a servant of a willful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7), to further the cause(s) of Victoryland Casino in Shorter Alabama? An even better question might be, why if your church does not support Victoryland, does it still continue to use Bingo (or other vainly disguised) “fund raising” techniques like yard sales and the such, but I will save that for another day.
Yesterday the Alabama Supreme Court overruled a Macon County circuit judge’s ruling that blocked Governor Riley’s attempt to raid Victoryland Casino in Shorter, AL (see the full court ruling Order of Protectiong Thrown Out July, 30 2010 and news articles here). Alabama has traditionally fought gambling of all kinds, and is still one of the last hold out states in the lottery business, but when I read the al.com report’s comments, it just screamed out to me, why are churches supporting Victoryland? It isn’t like Victoryland is reciprocating and supporting the local church (yes, they did give a whopping 1% to “charity” of some sort). A quick read of the comments by believeinlord in al.com’s press release shows what is probably one church of many, that takes [chartered?] church bus trips to Victoryland Casino.
This of course brings an enormous host of questions to mind when this person makes the casual comment “I’ve def won my fair share. We go together twice a month with my church group.” Of course “their fair share” we know statistically means they have spent a whole lot more money than they actually understand (or justify it by calling it the price of having a good time). The conversation goes on in another article talking about how “bingo has provided money [albeit 1%, yes only ONE PERCENT] to my church when we desperately needed a new van to take our elderly parishioners to their dr visits?”
So, apparently, at least in one case, this church (in Birmingham, AL) is, at minimum, neglecting it’s members, and in “desperate need” of transportation for their elders. Yet twice a month they trek down to Shorter with their church group? Huh? Seriously? It is hard to write this post without sounding judgmental but if this group was a “small group” size of say, 20 people, taking 24 trips a year, spending (loosing) who knows how much, is this not enough to completely pay for such a van?
How much is this multiplied across the church body? Hard to tell. Most (out of embarrassment or in hopes of keeping their vice quiet), do not directly publicize their casino trips to the general public, but all you have to do is spend a little bit of time in today’s church to know that charter bus trips to Biloxi and Tunica are the norm with many churches. Even if no church funds are used, is this the association you want people to make with your church? Today, maybe so, but I don’t find anywhere in scripture where it is the church’s job to support the local community via established casinos. I wonder if Jud Wilhite’s, Central Church in Henderson, NV sends their small groups to the Bellagio for game night on Tuesday’s?
If you think I am trying to say here that Victoryland, all casinos, and all gambling should end at once, you are missing the point. My wife and I enjoyed living in Las Vegas for a while, so this doesn’t come from some country hick who never left the back woods of south Alabama. Still, it is one thing to take a private trip with friends or family to a place that has or allows gambling, it is totally different for the church body to sanction such an event.
Don’t scream hypocrite yet, after all, the disciples even casted lots to confirm Matthias as the eleventh disciples in Acts 1:26. Then again, that wasn’t actually gambling, the fate of that cast was already decided by God, it wasn’t an outcome decided by chance. The point here isn’t whether individuals should or should not gamble. The point I am attempting to make is that supporting Victoryland is NOT what the church body was called to do, is it?
Are we so bored with the business of being God’s church that this is the best thing we can find to do with our time and money, as a church? In the world today, we the church have so much invested in our retirement packages, our homes, cars, electronics, can we now only give to God out of our leftovers? Are we once again living in paneled houses, while God’s house remains a ruin (Haggai 1:4)?
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