I sat in a barber shop in a mall. Outside the large glass windows was a lottery booth. Since I had a long wait to get my hair cut and the magazines were two years old, I entertained myself by watching the people buying lottery tickets.

One elderly lady intrigued me. She must have been approaching 80. Her long, winter coat hung loosely on her frail body. Her wrinkled face looked drawn and pale. I first noticed her standing beside the trash can tearing off tabs from instant-win lottery tickets. One, two, three tabs. No win. She threw the losing ticket into the garbage and then began on another. One, two, three tabs. No win. She threw that one in the garbage as well, and on and on it went.

After going through the stack of tickets in her hand she was left with a few “winners”—if you could call them winners because all they entitled her to was more “free” tickets. She took them to the lottery booth, exchanged them for money and bought another handful of tickets. Then the whole process started again. One, two, three tabs. No win. Throw the useless cards into the trash. This exercise went on for at least a quarter of an hour—tearing off tabs, throwing useless tickets away, buying more—until finally I was called to get my hair cut.

Somewhere between my eyebrow trim and neck shave, the elderly woman ran out of money. She hobbled off poorer but no wiser. I wondered if she had enough food to eat at home. I thought about the fresh fruit or new coat she could have purchased. I wondered what compelled her to throw her money away so aimlessly. Was it a dream that she would be rich? Was it desperation? Was it hope that her failed life would somehow, miraculously, turn around and she would at last come out a winner?

As a child I was enrolled as a junior soldier in The Salvation Army. Among the promises this 10-year-old made was: “I promise not to gamble.” At 10, I hardly knew what gambling was. I knew that in our house playing cards was not allowed because it was associated with gambling and no matter what kind of innocent game some of my friends played—from Crazy Eights to Go Fish—there was no legitimate reason for the “Devil's cards” to come into our house. To this day I still can't play cards. The closest I ever got to gambling was playing Snakes and Ladders with my mother.

At the age of 14 I was enrolled as a senior soldier in the Army. And there it was again, the promise not to gamble. Since I hadn't gambled up to that point, I felt I might as well not begin. That promise, first made when I was a child and then affirmed as a teenager, has kept me in good stead. To this day I have never bought a lottery ticket, played online gambling or gone to a bingo game. And I don't feel as though I am missing anything.

For Christians who think that gambling is just harmless fun, consider this: more than three percent of Canadian adults are affected by moderate to severe problem gambling. In a population of 34 million, that puts the number of problem gamblers into the hundreds of thousands. Problem gamblers affect their families by wasting money that could have gone into children's education, a mortgage or a family vacation. Problem gambling sometimes results in criminal activities as gamblers steal money or sell drugs to support their habit. It can also result in the loss of homes and family when the gambler has to declare bankruptcy. Every time Christians engage in gambling they become a part of the problem.

From a biblical standpoint, what is wrong with gambling? First, it encourages avarice—the insatiable desire for wealth. The Bible warns: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Second, it is a form of robbery. All winnings come from someone else's pockets. For every lottery winner there are hundreds of losers—people who are going to go home with empty purses, perhaps empty back accounts, because their money was taken by someone who gave nothing in return. If you take something from someone and give nothing back then you are a thief. “Neither … thieves nor the greedy … nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Third, gambling is a form of idolatry, the worshipping of a false god. The gambler is counting on Lady Luck, on chance, while God our heavenly Father has promised that he will provide for us. “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

You think God overlooks your little gaming habit? Don't bet on it.

Major Fred Ash is the corps officer at Burlington Community Church, Ont.