Poker, gambling and its forms have often been considered acceptable in today’s society. What used to be found only in the arcades, is now found on television in prime time. No longer relegated to Vegas, poker is in California, online and pretty much every state in the US If you do a Google search for “Christian Poker” the top ten results for me at least showed just items that said “go ahead”. or “as long as it doesn’t take over your life, you’re not sinning,” but each article had little to no Bible study. Surprisingly, there is hardly any Christian material on this subject.
The question is, are we obeying God’s commandments? Are we following Jesus by playing poker? Are we dishonoring God by playing poker? Does it matter if we play poker? Does God care if we do it or not? Does the Bible say anything at all? These questions can be answered by investigating what Jesus said. So let’s study the Bible, the word of God to find the answer to whether we should play poker.
But before we do, let’s ask God for help as we study His word. Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, today we ask you to provide us with your guidance and clarity regarding this topic. Lord, help us to have open hearts and minds, help us to overcome our sinful and selfish nature and to have a heart and mind like your son Jesus. Thank you for your great forgiveness and please send your Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding as we study this topic today. We pray all these things in Jesus name, amen.
Almost two thousand years ago, a lawyer approached Jesus and wanted to know what the most important commandment in the Bible was. It’s a good question, don’t you think? What is the greatest commandment? I invite you to turn with me in your Bible to Matthew 22:35-40 to find the answer that Jesus gave. He says …
Then one of them, an interpreter of the law, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying: Master, which is the great commandment of the law? Jesus told him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is similar: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.[1]
The greatest commandment is to love God with every ounce of your being. Not something of our soul, mind or heart, Jesus said love God with all your heart, soul and mind. How can we show our love for God? Jesus gave us an answer in John 14:15 where he says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”[2].” Are we loving others and God by playing poker? Also, what did God mean when he said ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’? Notice that the two great commandments refer to love. God is love, and we also want to love others. In fact, if we call ourselves Christians and do not have love, we have gained nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). Although humans are naturally selfish, we discover that we want to love God and follow his commandments because He loved us first (1 John 4). :19, John 14:15). It is the great love and sacrifice of Christ that has brought us closer to God. There is no greater love than God’s love for us. And fortunately we can continue His commandments, but only through the power of Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 15:5, 1 John 3:9, John 8:31-36).
So what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? The Bible says…
Do not owe anyone but love one another, because he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery”, “You shall not kill”, “You shall not steal”, “You shall not bear false witness”, “You shall not covet”, and if there are any other commandments, they are all summed up in this saying, namely: ” You love your neighbor as yourself”. Love does not harm the neighbor; Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.[3]
Loving your neighbor is the fulfillment of the law. (Galatians 5:14) It is the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments. Many people today hear about the Ten Commandments and without thinking deeply about them they think that they are some severe restrictions that God gives to people to punish them. Their selfish nature says “Don’t tell me what to do” and many people see the commandments as a bunch of “don’ts”. But would we really want to live in a world where there are no regulations against murder, fraud, theft and rape? It is a law of love, not a law of severe restrictions. Can you imagine a world where everyone followed the Ten Commandments? You turn on the news and the announcer says “there were no murders today, worldwide.” Wow, sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? Based on Romans 13:8-10, obeying the Ten Commandments is the fulfillment not only of God’s law, but it is the fulfillment of loving God and neighbor.
Sin is definitely a bad thing, a bad thing. But what exactly is sin? Sin is defined as the breaking of God’s law because it is written: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; indeed, sin is lawlessness.[4]”Since sin is breaking God’s law, and love is keeping God’s law, we can logically judge whether playing poker is love or not, pure or a sin based on the Ten Commandments. God is calling us to the purity, to His original plan to love like Him. Love must be sincere, hate the bad, cling to the good.[5]
So let’s consider poker. In any form of poker, the goal is the same. Players sit around a table and try to take each other’s chips. The whole purpose of the game is to take money from the other players. But God’s law, the Ten Commandments of it that are found in Exodus 20 state…
You will not steal. – Exodus 20:15 (NIV)
Poker is a game of stealing. A poker player can often argue that poker is a game of skill, but let’s consider how it is played. One player can “steal” the other player’s blinds. Another will cheat another player with his money. In fact, a good poker player knows two important poker factors, bluffing and trapping. Bluffing is the art of lying, of tricking another player or players into believing that the money they have put into a pot is not good and that they should give it up. The second poker skill is trapping, which is the art of deception. A player with a strong hand will act as if his hand is weak in hopes of tricking another player into giving him all of his betting money. It is clear that no Christian should play poker based on the Ten Commandments.
Footnotes
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[1] Matthew 22:35-40 (NIV)
[2] John 14:15 (NIV)
[3] Romans 13:8-10 (NIV)
[4] 1 John 3:14 (NIV)
[5] Romans 12:9 (NIV)