What kind of poker player are you?
In the Bible, Jesus often taught using parables, which were simple stories used to illustrate some moral or spiritual lesson. In this article, the discussion about “The Parable of the Poker Player” relates to how we choose to play the game of life and, more specifically, to our spiritual growth and how we manage our relationship with God.
[Note: If you are suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable, that means it is especially important for you to invest two or three minutes to keep reading. Nobody is watching, and it’s just you here, so why not finish the article and see what happens?]
There are parallels between poker and our spiritual life:
- There are rules to be followed, but flexibility for how to play the cards we are dealt.
- Many of the cards remain hidden, so there are some things we must work to discern.
- We can influence how well we do, but we are not in total control of the outcome.
“Life, like poker has an element of risk. It shouldn’t be avoided. It should be faced.” (Edward Norton)
When we look at the different types of poker players, we can learn even more.
Some players pride themselves on their intellect, and they focus on being clever enough to outsmart the other players to win. Sometimes, though, their overconfidence betrays them, and they lose the game by misjudging a hand they thought they had figured out.
Other players are very cautious, and they drop out of any hand when they are not absolutely positive their cards are good enough. Therefore, their game becomes a slow process of losing, because they are not really choosing to engage in the game at all.
There are some players willing to do anything to win, even cheat if they think they can get away with it. Occasionally, this approach may seem to pay off for a while, but it does not work out in the long run, and they lose not only the game, but also their character.
In addition, many players see the only objective of the game as being to wind up with the most chips, and they don’t enjoy the experience at all unless that is the end result.
Do any of these poker players seem familiar to you?
There is yet another metaphorical lesson we can discern by thinking about poker players. At some point in a game, a player may recognize that they have been dealt what surely seems to be a winning hand, but they can’t be positive because there are cards that remain hidden. They then have a decision to make: do they play it safe and rely only on what they see, or do they decide to go “all in” and put all their chips on the table?
“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
In closing, we will diverge from our parable, as there are also differences between poker and how we manage our relationship with God. When we go “all in” for God, the good news is that we can’t lose because, in fact, God controls the cards! And he wants us to win! But “winning” in God’s eyes does not mean showing everyone how smart we are, playing it safe, beating the other players, or winding up with all the chips on our side.
The real stakes are much higher than that.
What kind of poker player are you?
Action: If you want to go “all in” with God, the Bible has guidance for you, and the chapter in STEPS on “Charting a Personal Path for Spiritual Growth” will be useful.
