Buying a lottery ticket is always a mistake.
Explanation
I do not gamble with my money. This includes playing the lottery. The reason is simple: the odds are never in your favor and it is poor stewardship.
Regarding the odds, you are more likely to make money picking a stock at random and investing in it. At 0% interest rates in an inflating economy, your basic checking account is a better investment. At least you have money at the end of the day. There’s good reason to call the lottery the “stupid tax” or the “poor tax.” As investments go, it does not yield good returns for the risk. As a tax used to raise funds for governments, it’s a great way to prey on the weak and the poor.
However, the most important issue regards faithful stewardship.
A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 28:20 (ESV)
What is the draw of the lottery? A whole lot of money with no effort. This is a hasty money scheme. Any attempt that prioritizes quick gain of cash over creating value is poor stewardship of our resources. Our goal in life is not to gain a leg up for ourselves, but to pay the debt of service we owe to our brothers, neighbors, and enemies on God’s behalf for his good grace and mercy. Be a little creator and builder, not an opportunist.
Those are, in my opinion, the two truest reasons to avoid lotteries and gambling. I also wish to discuss a third reason that some avoid them, the matter of conscience.
One teaching of Christianity is that there are sins which are not sins in generally, but can be sins for individuals. These are the sins of conscience.
However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
1 Corinthians 8:7 (ESV)
The argument from scripture tends to focus on food sacrificed by idols because that was a primary issue for Greek and Roman Christians converting from European paganism to Christianity. Christians today generalize this into any sort of thing that defiles your conscience. Games of chance can be just such an issue. Let me explain.
My grandfather was a Southern Baptist pastor and in their home they had no dice or cards. Monopoly was forbidden. Why? Because they objected to gambling on the basis of it being a game of chance. I don’t know exactly why they didn’t like games of chance. However, one reason that can be used to justify this is that games of chance can give the impression that God is not in control, but that some impersonal or karmic force of luck is in control.
It is important to clarify that this is not true. God is sovereign over all chances and coincidences. And God incorporated the use of games of chance into his religion. The Urim and Thummim were lots that the priest had incorporated into his uniform near his heart. These lots were used to help get God’s guidance at times to ask God which direction to take.
Consider 1 Samuel 14:36-42 where the Urim and Thummim were used to accurately discern why the Lord was angry with Israel: Saul made a rash oath and his son Jonathan unknowingly broke it.
Consider as well Acts 1:26 (ESV):
And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
This is perfectly consistent with the Old Testament usage of lots.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)
In a game of chance, there is no chance, only providence. God’s sovereignty extends across all our experiences, not just the significant or important ones. So God controls the dice roll in your game of Monopoly or Catan and the card draws in poker, pitch, Splendor, or Century: Golem.
However, if you have trouble with superstition or karma or believe that dice or cards drawn are influenced by luck or chance, it might really be wise to avoid such games. Do not defile your conscience or engage in idolatry because you are weak on a point.
If you are such a one, you should work to retrain yourself to think of the roll of the dice and the draw from the deck as providence. But if it smites your conscience because you really do idolize luck, by all means, avoid games of chance until you finish that work.
My primary arguments remain, though: lotteries and gambling are simply poor stewardship of your time and resources. Build something. Create something. Don’t seek chances to take gain and don’t waste your money.
Cheers.