Polymarket bills itself as the world’s largest prediction market platform, a site where you can trade on real world events. You can trade on when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen, who will win the NBA Championship, and how often Elon Musk will post today. (Polymarket markets itself to Canadians, but Ontario is listed as a prohibited jurisdiction.)
Gambling is nothing new, but the spread of online betting marks a new phase in an old problem. Today, while watching a baseball game, I heard a commercial advertising that I could place a bet and cash out early if my team gained a five-point lead. The billboard outside my condo regularly advertises the opportunity to bet on sports.
In Canada, each province sets its own rules for online gambling. One province (British Columbia) runs its own platform; other provinces like Alberta and Ontario favour open markets. In Ontario alone, people placed almost $83 billion in wagers last year, an increase of 31% from the year before. One in five Canadians bet on sports in the past year.
Online gambling is all around us, and it’s on the rise.
What’s the Problem?
Some may wonder what the problem is. Most of us regularly spend money on recreation; how is online gambling any different?
According to Cardus, sports gambling brings financial, psychological, emotional, relational, and physical harms, particularly to young people and vulnerable populations. Even worse, aggressive marketing causes broader cultural harm by normalizing gambling as harmless. “The rise of online sports betting is a public-health problem that demands action from government,” the report states. Yet governments lack incentives to act since they make significant revenue from online gambling.
Online gambling raises other ethical issues for Christians. It contradicts Scripture’s emphasis on earning money through work (Prov. 13:11, 28:20; Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11-12; 2 Thess. 3:10-12). It raises questions about our love of money and desire for wealth (1 Tim. 6:9-10). When we participate in gambling, we engage in an industry in which the house always wins, not only at our expense but at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society. Our money belongs to God, and we manage it for him. We will give account for how we use our money, and sports gambling is not a wise use of the resources God has given to us.
Online gambling may seem like a harmless hobby, but we need to think carefully about our culpability when we participate.
How to Respond
We should respond in a couple of ways.
First, we should be on guard in our own lives. Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Jesus is clear about the danger that greed poses to our soul, and he warns us to guard against all forms of its incursion into our lives. This, I believe, includes the issue of gambling.
Second, we should speak on this issue. The world will tell our children and fellow Christians that sports gambling is harmless fun. It’s up to us to disciple others on this and other issues affecting us today. We can catechize each other with questions and answers like this. (I wrote it; you may be able to write a better version.)
Why is online gambling a problem for Christians?
Online gambling contradicts Scripture’s teaching that money should be earned through honest work (Prov. 13:11; Eph. 4:28). It tempts us toward the love of money (1 Tim. 6:9–10), and it benefits us at the expense of the most vulnerable in society. Because our money belongs to God, we must use it wisely as those will give account.