How to Defeat Harmful Habits (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (34 page)

N
icknamed “Charlie Hustle,” he delighted baseball fans for decades by slamming balls past dazed outfielders and scoring runs that put him both at the top of his game and at the top of his league. He won the National League batting title three times and the Gold Glove Award twice. He was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1973 and won three World Series rings. His biggest baseball accomplishment came when the celebrated slugger broke Ty Cobb’s all-time batting record with hit number 4193.
¹

In 1989, baseball great Pete Rose was tagged with another label—
gambler
—a dark cloud over his once-shining reputation. He should have heeded this biblical warning:

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge
,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it”

(P
ROVERBS
22:3).

Pete Rose grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city with a reputation for conservatism, but the neighborhood where he lived gave a black eye to that reputation. Bars and nightclubs lined the streets, displaying an overabundance of roulette wheels, slot machines, and tables filled with poker, craps, and blackjack players. Resembling a mini Las Vegas, bookies were readily available to assist with wagers on horse races, and madams promoting prostitution brashly posted signs for all to see.

Pete first accompanied his father to the racetrack at age six, and countless trips back continually fueled his exhilaration for the thrill of the “big win.”
²
For 30 years Pete was a “regular” at the racetrack, and the Pick-Six tickets he purchased won him more than a million dollars.

Pete expanded his gambling ventures to wagering on sports, with football and basketball being his favorites. He quickly discovered that the games became more exciting when he played the dual role of both spectator and gambler. But despite some big wins, Pete regretfully admitted there were many more big losses, “and not just in money.”
³
Sadly, to gamble is to run the risk of one day saying,

“When I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, then came darkness”

(J
OB
30:26).

Athletes participate in a sporting event while spectators watch and speculate about who will win. Some spectators place bets on the outcome. The athlete hopes to achieve a reward by winning; the gambler hopes to gain a reward by picking the winner.

Both winning an athletic competition and winning the bet on a sports competition are accompanied by an emotional and chemical high that can be as addictive as any drug-induced high. Likewise, winning at gambling can create a compulsion within a person to place bet after bet—perhaps initially lining the pockets, but then ultimately emptying them.

In addition, whether it comes to beating the competitor or the odds, the urge to win can take precedence over every relationship, every responsibility, and every resolve of the will. Some are greedy for money, others for fame, and still others for power. But
all
are pursuing the exhilaration that comes from the high of winning.

In contrast, the biblical book of wisdom states, “Better a little with the fear of the L
ORD
than great wealth with turmoil” (Proverbs 15:16).

•
Gambling
is betting or taking a calculated risk for monetary or personal gain when the outcome is uncertain. For example:

–
Waging money
on games of chance (or
gaming
) in the hopes of winning more money (classic betting games such as poker, blackjack, dice, bingo, roulette, and slot machines)

–
Laying bets
on the winner of a future competition (putting money on horse and dog races, boxing and wrestling matches, chicken and dog fights, sports car races, and other sporting events)

–
Taking a chance
on a “long shot” (lotteries or speculating with financial investments based on incomplete information)

–
Risking the loss of something of value
(car, savings account, month’s salary, house, college tuition, even gambling away an inheritance)

–
Endangering something or someone
because of risky behavior

–
“Staking your life”
on something dangerous or rash (from street racing to cheating on taxes to not repaying the Mafia)

•
Pari-mutuel Gambling
occurs when gamblers aren’t making wagers against “the house” (the gaming establishment), but rather against fellow gamblers.
⁴

–
Includes
a percentage of total winnings that are fixed, but the amount a winner receives depends on the total amount bet by all gamblers

–
Involves
a betting pool in which those who place bets on competitive races (horses, dogs) strive to finish somewhere in the first three places and share the total amount with the other winners minus a percentage for the management
⁵

–
Comprises
the most common type of racetrack gamblers

Q
UESTION:
What is coveting?

A
NSWER
:
Gamblers are typically triggered by covetousness.

–
Covet
, in the Old Testament Hebrew text, is the word
chamad
, meaning “to delight in, to desire,” and is used both positively and negatively.
⁶

–
Covet
means to earnestly wish for or to strongly desire what belongs to another. The last of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17).

Q
UESTION:
What is greed?

A
NSWER:
The struggle with greed can be the gambler’s number one downfall.

–
Greed
means a selfish, excessive desire for more than what is needed.
⁷

–
Greed
, in the New Testament Greek text, is the word
pleonexia
, which refers to “striving for material possessions,” usually by taking advantage of another.
⁸
Notice this warning from Jesus:

“He said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’”

(L
UKE
12:15).

Those who engage in gambling not only run the risk of losing their money, but also their freedom. Casinos are full of those first entrapped and then enslaved by this addiction. But gambling can also result in death—death of a personal relationship, death to a right relationship with God. The Bible says,

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”

(P
ROVERBS
16:25).

In Pete Rose’s own words: “Ask any real gambler and he’ll tell you: It ain’t about the money—it’s about the action!”
⁹
Pete admitted his gambling spiraled out of control after he broke Ty Cobb’s batting record. After such a monumental accomplishment, the need for the next thrill consumed his life, and gambling fueled that needed exhilaration.

“The more I gambled, the more I needed to gamble,” he confessed. “And the more I lost, the more I tried to double-up to win back what I had already lost. I kept pushing the limit until I was so mixed up.”
¹⁰
Pete was on the wrong road, doing
anything
but what was right. The first book of the Bible warns,

“If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;

it desires to have you, but you must master it”

(G
ENESIS
4:7).

Once the exhilarating ecstasy of winning has captured the mind, will, and emotions, all bets are off on the likelihood that gamblers will find freedom on their own. Only the transforming work of the Holy Spirit has the power to bring—and to sustain—freedom. Compulsive behaviors are always dangerous because they can become all-consuming to the point of taking control of people, altering their belief systems, and driving them to participate in risky activity. Choice is surrendered and self-control is stripped of its power as the compulsion to gamble rules and reigns.

“Like a city whose walls are broken down
is a man who lacks self-control”

(P
ROVERBS
25:28).

For those in the throes of compulsive gambling, the initial excitement of risk-taking eventually turns to enslavement. And it’s not only themselves they are hurting. Every compulsive gambler affects somewhere between 10 to 17 individuals around them, including family members and coworkers.
¹¹

D
IFFERENT
C
ATEGORIES OF
G
AMBLING

There are many ways to gamble and many different types of gamblers, but all gambling can be classified into one of four categories. Each of these categories possesses unique identifying characteristics:
¹²

•
Social Gambling

– Gambling revolves around creating and maintaining friendships

– Financial setbacks are tightly monitored and minimal

– Wagering does not become habitual or addictive

•
Professional Gambling

– Gambling becomes a way of life and a means of income

– Strong personal self-control is required to avoid financial ruin

•
Compulsive Gambling
¹³
(often called pathological gambling)

– The need to wager overshadows all other concerns and endeavors

– The desire for gambling becomes stronger over time

– Great personal loss may not inhibit the gambler’s behavior

– An addiction exists that can be curtailed if caught in time

•
Pathological Gambling
(often called compulsive gambling)

– Increasingly larger wagers provide a high that becomes addictive

– Gambling behavior is beyond personal control

– Placing bets becomes a way to escape from life’s pressures and disappointments

– Engaging in criminal activity provides money for more gambling

– An uncontrollable impulse emerges to recoup lost resources (“chasing one’s losses”)

– Deception of others increases in order to “keep the secret” of the obsession with gambling

– Destruction or significant damage to one’s personal and professional life occurs due to gambling

“A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him”

(2 P
ETER
2:19).

As Pete’s compulsive gambling progressed, rumors of his addictive habit started going public, and baseball officials started asking questions. In March 1989, an official investigation was launched into gambling charges. At the time, Pete was manager of the Cincinnati Reds, the team for which he once was a star player.

Gambling accusations were initially brushed aside by Pete, who stated publicly, “I’d be willing to bet you, if I were a betting man, that I have never bet on baseball.”
¹⁴
But a 225-page report released in June of that same year indicated otherwise, citing a debt of $400,000 accumulated over a three-month period
¹⁵
and much, much more. Scripture is not silent about lying: “The L
ORD
detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful” (Proverbs 12:22).

Compulsive gamblers can be divided into two similar yet distinct categories based on their differing personalities and gambling styles. Both are ultimately controlled by consuming thoughts of gambling and the overpowering desire to engage in gambling activities. Without intervention, both groups wreak havoc on their own lives as well as the lives of others and ultimately feel helpless and hopeless. They could easily say these words:

“Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope”