Lottery
A method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes. This form of gambling is considered ethically unsound, since it relies on chance rather than on skill or careful organization. It is not a fair way to distribute money, as it deprives the poor of their hard-earned incomes.
People are often lured into playing the lottery by the promise that their lives will improve if they win the big prize. This hope is based on the false belief that money can solve all problems, which is contrary to God’s commandments against covetousness (Exodus 20:17; 1 Timothy 6:10).
The term lottery is sometimes used in a more general sense to refer to any scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance. Such an arrangement may include financial lotteries in which the prize is money, or it may involve commercial promotions in which property is given away in a random process, or it could be a procedure by which members of a jury are selected from lists of registered voters.
The lottery is an ancient and effective method of collecting funds, though the exact nature of the process varies widely. Its success is rooted in the fact that it is both simple to organize and popular with the public. State governments need revenue, so they often rely on the lottery to provide it, and in many places it accounts for a significant portion of total revenues.
