On an episode of a recent podcast, Piper, said the lottery involves preying on the less fortunate.
The Don’t Waste Your Life author said he believes the lottery deceives the poor into “get rich quick” efforts. He revealed that the less fortunate often sacrifice at least 6% of their annual income on the lottery.
The noted Bible teacher also claimed that “the main draw” for lower-income individuals when it comes to gambling games is “pull-tabs and scratch games.”
He said, “These kinds of games are less attractive to middle-class people and upper-class people because adding $10, or $100 dollars even, to your bank account really doesn’t make that much difference to a middle-class person.”
“But to a poor person — $10, $100, or $500 — that’s like a windfall. And therefore, the more frequent payout and the greater the likelihood of winning draws in disproportionately more poor people for these kinds of games than for, say, the big Powerball payout.”
The theologian went on to note that “the lottery did not become a million-dollar industry due to its large output of winners.”
He pointed out that “Addictive behaviors are more common among the poor and living by immediate rather than deferred gratification is more common among the poor. Publicly funded gambling feeds these kinds of habits, which are destructive to people’s lives.”
Instead of playing the lottery, Piper said – “God is more than able to meet our needs. When we put more trust in chance than in Him, we need to reevaluate our priorities.”