SPORTS BETTING ON THE RISE
The rapid spread of sports betting across the country over the past few years is very alarming, and judging from how fast it has been spreading, it is safe to assume the sports betting companies fuelling this wildfire of gambling are enjoying great patronage from the Ghanaian public, and lots of profits to go with it. But this is only half the truth. This devastating picture also reflects the enormous appetite of young Ghanaians to get rich quick. In the past, we have seen this same craving drag friends and family into all sorts of ventures, including the ill-fated ‘sakawa’. If you asked me, I would say the two are not so different. They share the same root, the love of money. Like Paul intimated in his passionate letter to the young Timothy, “. . . the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Timothy 6:10).
Ghana’s population is a very youthful one. According to the 2010 census, more than 50% of its population is 29 years or less. With recent trends of unemployment and economic hardship, this substrate has been rendered fertile for some of these betting activities to thrive. Early this year, per my cursory count, just about 10 betting companies existed in Ghana. Today, the website ‘www.bettingcompaniesinghana.com’ boasts of over 25 of them. The Sports Betting industry in Ghana is booming indeed.
Sports betting is a form of gambling. It is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Currently in Ghana, majority of these bets are placed on European football and this can be conveniently done online or by visiting some designated betting centres all across the country. I have encountered many young Ghanaians who are involved in online sports betting. One of them even confessed to using his school fees to engage in the practice. During my interactions with some of them, I realized that most of them do not even see anything wrong with betting and only regard it as an avenue for making money. But is sports betting really wrong?
While the Bible doesn’t explicitly condemn or condone gambling, several high-profile men of God have highlighted the dangers associated with betting money. The late Billy Graham said that before a Christian plays the lottery, they should remember two important, biblical truths about money and its role in the life of a believer.
Before a Christian plays the lottery, they should remember two important, biblical truths about money and its role in the life of a believer.
“Gambling is nowhere approved in the Bible,” he said. “Instead, the Bible stresses that the Christian should earn his living by honest work and effort, and this would exclude relying on chance (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). The Bible tells us to ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Gambling has often done untold evil to people by making them lose money that could be used for good purposes or even the necessities of life. Money is given to us by God to be used for good, not evil. Anyone seeking to do God’s will should not be involved in gambling.”
He goes on to say, “Gambling is also wrong because of the motives involved. Some people gamble for thrills and excitement. Others gamble because they have a greedy and covetous attitude about money. Some gamble out of a false belief in luck. All of these motives are wrong for the Christian, for they are all self-centred and materialistic.”
It also stands to reason that sports betting is wrong because it is a wasteful use of the money the Lord has blessed us with. Whatever we have as Christians belongs to God, and so are our resources. In other words, engaging in betting is simply using God’s money to do the devil’s bidding. Greed is the motivating factor in sports betting. The desire to get rich quickly is a demonstration of covetousness, materialism, laziness, seeking gain from others and discontentment on the part of the individual engaged in the practice.
In response to the question “Is modest online sports gambling sinful?” John Piper had this to say. Online gambling in general, little or big, is sinful— whether you call it modest or exorbitant, Piper began. Piper reminded the reader that he has one single life to live on this earth. Every day, he said, should be lived for the glory of God and is either “invested well” or “lost forever.” Online sports gambling, he argued, is a “tragic waste of a precious, God-given life.”
There’s no doubt that if Jesus Christ were to be here in our day and age, He would not have engaged in sports betting. Although Jesus lived all His life on earth as a youth, He was only interested in doing the will of God. He invested His life well. Immanuel. . . God invested the precious life of His only begotten son in our deliverance—deliverance from sin and all semblances thereof. And if we, having been saved from sin by His blood, fail to appropriate this grace profitably, what are we then?
Certainly, a man like Jesus Christ will not engage in an activity that robs many of their resources to benefit a few. Why should we?
