The Gift of Gold

A man stayed in the hand with weak cards, but caught the exact right card on the river to take a nice pot.  The Tournament Director was playing at the table, and was stunned.

In response, the Director pulled out gold chips worth 5,000 -- and proceeded to give one to everyone at the table except the big winner.  "This is for sucking out," the Director explained.  "Don't tell the other tables I'm doing this."

We were playing at this table, so we received one of the valuable gold chips.  But something didn't seem right about this.  "This doesn't seem very fair," we noted to the Director with an innocent-sounding voice.

"If you'd like me to give a gold chip to everyone at the other tables, I will," the Director offered.

Talk about a sudden ethical dilemma.  This Director was offering us (along with about four others) a competitive advantage over the rest of the tournament field -- a "leg up" we seldom have, since the other players tend to outspend us for bonus chips, in terms of food and drinks.

How would you have responded to this situation?  Before we share our answer, let's get some Biblical guidance.  Would Jesus pull this kind of stunt?  There are plenty of Scriptures to indicate He would not....

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. - Deuteronomy 10:17

We fear there are some believers who think they gain special favor or protection from God because they give more than ten percent of their income to a church, or attend services every week for years.  But the Bible record suggests otherwise:

....Your Father in heaven.... causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matthew 5:45

And yet there are times in the Bible when God clearly selected a few people for doing something special.  It occurred in the Old Testament....

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."  And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence  I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." - Exodus 33:18-19

God also chose to speak "face to face" with Moses -- a privilege not granted to his siblings, even though they complained about it (Numbers 12).  What makes the difference in these cases?  The New Testament offers a clue:

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." - Acts 10:34-35

In this week of U.S. and Canadian patriotism, is it simply a case of "God Bless America"?  No - it's more about God blessing the worshipful and obedient, no matter where they live.  Peter grasped this concept long ago, because Jesus accepted him back after denying the Lord three times at a crucial moment (John 21:15-19).

So what did we finally decide to do, regarding that 5,000-chip bonus?  Read the answer.... in a future post.