Sports betting through mobile platforms has become deeply ingrained in African culture, especially among the youth. With widespread mobile phone access, affordable internet, and a strong mobile money ecosystem, placing bets is never more than a few clicks away.
Betting firms sell the illusion of instant wealth while deepening financial struggles.
According to a 2024 Geopoll report, over 75% of African youth have placed a sports bet, with Kenya leading at 83%, followed by Nigeria (78%) and South Africa (74%). Soccer remains the most popular betting choice, with most participants wagering at least once a week, with an average monthly spending of below $5. Betting firms exploit high youth unemployment, low wages, and poverty, selling the illusion of instant wealth while deepening financial struggles.
While Christians have historically opposed gambling, the top three betting countries in Africa are predominantly Christian. With the rise of the prosperity gospel, many Christians even pray over bets, believing they are sowing a seed and trusting God for a harvest (i.e. a win). Some even seek guidance on which teams to bet on with false prophets going as far as prophesying match results. These Christians mistakenly hope that winning the jackpot is God’s will, believing they can honour him by tithing a portion to their local church.
But is gambling and sports betting where Christians should place their hope?
The Heart of Gambling
Christians gamble for different reasons—whether it’s to multiply money quickly, seek social approval, escape reality, or add excitement to watching sports. However, at its core, gambling stems from the same underlying desires. It is often triggered by dissatisfaction with one’s current life and a longing for wealth, luxury, and quick as well as effortless riches. It is also fuelled by a desire for admiration and recognition from others, for winning.
Instead of trusting God for provision and putting your hands to work, the gambler trusts Lady Luck to instantly provide all the worldly goods. Instead of patiently toiling to build wealth, while benefitting others, the gambler seeks to skip the process and become rich at the expense of others.
Christians must see the destructive cycle that sports betting plunges people into.
The winning gambler keeps chasing the next game, hoping to win more and recover past losses. The losing gambler clings to hope, believing persistence will eventually lead to that big win. Both fail to see the reality that gambling is a destructive cycle, a false hope, for no one wins every time. Instead of serving God, the gambler serves Mammon. But Mammon enslaves. He doesn’t keep his promises. We have all heard of those who gambled away everything—their clothes, car, house, even borrowing more to chase their losses, only to lose it all. Many have lost their faith, their families, and, tragically, even their lives.
But God calls the gambler to another path.
God’s Call to Work
Sports betting and gambling foster a desire for wealth without labour, allowing winners to gain at the expense of others. Sports betting isn’t work. For it seeks to gain something for nothing. It erodes the Christian work ethic, causing believers to lose the fruit of honest labour and replace it with a false hope of success through idle hands. Instead of diligence and stewardship, it fosters greed, laziness, and a disregard for God’s design for work.
Sports betting isn’t work. It seeks to gain something for nothing.
God designed work as a gift, allowing us to use our skills and experience to serve others and glorify him. The gambler is called to turn from idle pursuits, put his hands to honest work, trust God for provision, and generously share with those in need. Considering Ephesians 4:28. “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”
God also promises provision to those who work, not those who chase fantasies. “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (Proverbs 12:11).
Contentment and Confidence
Jeremiah Burroughs defines Christian contentment as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” But sports betting is fuelled by discontent and a love for money. The gambler does not submit to God for his financial situation. He chases get-rich-quick schemes that inevitably lead to loss (Proverbs 13:11).
God calls us to be grateful to him for what he has provided, as we trust him for increase.
God calls us to be content with what he’s given us. Furthermore, he will never leave us or forsake us. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'” (Hebrews 13:5). The God who feeds the birds though they neither toil nor store up wealth, promises to provide for our needs. He calls us to be grateful to him for what he has provided, as we trust him for increase. He further calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).
True Hope
The Christian’s true hope is in God. He provides for our needs and multiplies the work of our hands. Whether rich or poor, God calls his people to find their identity in Christ, not in fleeting luck or wealth.
God calls his people to find their identity in Christ, not in fleeting luck or wealth.
We cannot trust in God’s providence while also trusting in Lady Luck. The Bible is clear. “You cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, we cannot use God for our agenda to win bets. He also isn’t interested in tithes from dishonest gain. The Lord’s blessings are clear, and they often come from serving others. God created us to earn money through honest work that benefits others and honours him. So we can never say, “It doesn’t matter where my money comes from.” For Christians, it always matters.
Trust Your Generous Heavenly Father
Despite its widespread popularity, Christians must continue to stand against sports betting. We should also encourage young people to work and be content with God’s provision. Christians who gamble must see the destructive cycle that sports betting plunges people into. They must see sports betting as a misplaced hope in fleeting riches and instead trust in God, our generous Father.
Therefore, anyone gambling must instead work diligently, being content with God’s gifts and trusting him for provision. In doing so, they will honour God and have something to share with those in need. Quit gambling, dear Christian, for your good and God’s glory.
