There are fantasy games on online platforms. One such is Dream 11, which has 200 million users. A person could choose a team, game, play, bet, and win/lose money. It is legalized gambling on Social Media platforms. Satan always offers himself disguised as money to keep people away from God.
Training in greed: Sadly, some pastors have lost money playing this, and many youngsters are losing money regularly. Others buy lottery tickets to get rich quickly. Today, social media and the marketplace have become places to train people in greed. (II Peter 2:14)
Greed: Easy money or getting rich very quickly is doing it in dishonest ways. Such wealth will also quickly diminish. (Proverbs 13:11) Dishonest ways include the use of tyranny, injustice, extortion, lies, trickery, threats, allurement, lucky hits, etc. The beginning of getting such wealth could look like a blessing, but it will not be so in the end. (Proverbs 20:21) Greed is equated with idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
Gain at others’ loss: For every lottery ticket winner, there would be one million losers. Each person wants to become a winner. So, each person puts some money that he eventually loses. It is gaining from others’ loss. Instead of helping and showing generosity to others, it justifies robbing others.
Time loss: Instead of investing time in Godly and good purposes for self-growth, time is wasted in imaginary games. Time is God’s gift to all humans. Each one is accountable to God. Disciples are stewards of time, hence right use of time is an important discipline. Along with time, money is also lost by playing pointless games.
Purposeless pursuits: Disciples are expected to be Kingdom citizens. The Kingdom of God is the priority, and not selfish interests, passions, hobbies, and fantasies. (Matthew 6:33) Instead of living as Kingdom citizens and inviting others into the Kingdom of God, disciples could be distracted by worthless things.
Idol: Whatever consumes time, energy, resources, including money, becomes the idol of a person. Greed is the desire, and fantasy games are the object of obsession; both desire and fantasy become idols.
Am I a slave to addictive and destructive games?