At the heart of sin

I’m often slow to pick up on social trends, but since buying my first smart TV last spring (see how slow?) I’ve been steamrolled by sports-betting commercials on free streaming platforms like Roku. Annoying ads for social casinos have peppered many of my go-to podcasts for years now. I’m told “free to play” social casinos steal time, not money. But sports betting promises instant riches to ordinary Americans willing to take a risk. Download the app today!

Apparently thousands of Americans download the app daily, a hedonistic charge spearheaded by young men who’ve learned to supercharge their competitive, sports-­loving nature with the thrill of flashing dollar signs. Rates of drinking, fornicating, and smoking (of tobacco, at least) have declined among the young, but gambling is on the rise, driven largely by sportsbooks. Since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal laws prohibiting sports betting, state after state has succumbed to the lure of easy money. Two companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, now control over 70% of the market, hawking apps that allow viewers to place wagers on a split screen while watching the game. ESPN commentators wrung their hands over the latest betting scandal, even while the network promoted its own gambling app onscreen (now discontinued in favor of DraftKings, the exclusive ESPN sportsbook provider).

Americans who watch the news more than sports can scratch their gambling itch with Kalshi, whose cynical tagline is “The world’s gone mad, trade it.” Kalshi is a “predictions market” where users bet on world events and political futures—even trivia like the length of a State of the Union address.

Meanwhile, credit scores sink and bankruptcy claims rise. At least eight recent studies indicate that problem gamblers have a higher rate of suicide attempts than alcoholics or drug addicts: about 1 in 5.

But this isn’t a column about gambling. This is a column about coveting and misplaced love.

In Exodus 20 the LORD speaks directly to his people, pronouncing the Ten Commandments in a voice of thunder that terrifies them—all so “the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” It appears to work, at first: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” But we know how that promise worked out.

Commandments Two through Nine address actions: You shall do this, you shall not do that. Commandments One and Ten aim directly at the heart: “You shall have no other gods before me,” and “You shall not covet [anything that belongs to your neighbor].”

Displacing God and desiring what is not lawfully mine are the very heart of sin. Eve was first tempted to join God on His throne. Then, gazing at forbidden fruit, she lusted after the only thing He had held back. Breaking those two laws led to graven images, profanity, Sabbath-breaking, disrespect, theft, murder, adultery, and deceit. For as it turns out, the first and the last commandments are almost impossible for humans to keep. One can scrupulously observe all the others on the outside and trample the first and the last in the heart. We call that hypocrisy.

Even for sincere Christians it’s a continual struggle. Other gods trespass on sacred space. Unlawful desires lurk in back rooms and byways. “We will do everything the LORD has commanded,” his people promise, then and now. Except the first thing, and the last.

In high school I took a civics class called “The Problems of Democracy.” We watched the news and studied issues like crime, election fraud, welfare, immigration—but not covetousness. Yet that may be the chief problem of democracy, especially when a nation becomes wealthy and self-indulgent. Rule by and for the people often means, as H.L. Menchen cynically put it, that the people get what they want good and hard. It’s not just Kids Today: Every generation of Americans had its idols and gimmes, rushing for fame and treasure over broken commandments. The United States is not uniquely sinful, but our system, so conducive to freedom and prosperity, was the first to make covetousness pay off. At least for some.

Freedom and prosperity are good things, the very things God promised to His people if they kept His commandments. That was a big “if,” then and now. But if we, followers of the perfect Commandment Keeper, don’t guard our own hearts against idolatry and covetousness, who will?