Raffles in Church: What John 2:13-16 Actually Says
Short answer: John 2:13-16 does not mention raffles, but it does establish something churches must reckon with. Jesus found the temple courts turned into a marketplace and drove out the sellers and money-changers, and the passage shows that worship space must not be subordinated to commerce. A raffle is not the same as currency exchange, so the passage does not settle the question by itself. What it does do is force a question: is this fundraising method serving worship, or quietly turning the church into a vendor? Scripture also warns against covetousness in Ephesians 5:3-5 and against every form of evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Faithful Christians read those texts differently on this point. Some see raffles as harmless fun; others see them as a doorway to gambling and greed. The honest answer is that the Bible gives principles, not a rule with the word raffle in it.
What Jesus actually did in the temple courts
John places this event near the beginning of Jesus' ministry, during a Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The temple courts were not a quiet sanctuary. They were a working precinct where pilgrims bought sacrificial animals and exchanged Roman currency for temple coinage. Jesus did not object to the existence of the sacrificial system. He objected to what the courts had become. John 2:13-16 describes him making a whip of cords and driving out the sheep and oxen, pouring out the money-changers' coins, and overturning their tables.
The details matter for our question. Jesus did not merely disapprove of dishonest weights or inflated prices, though those may have existed. He disrupted a legitimate commercial operation that had taken up residence in the place of prayer. The courts were the one space where Gentiles could draw near to worship. When trade filled them, the nations were pushed out. Commerce had not just joined worship; it had crowded worship aside.
So the passage is first about the holiness of God's house and the priority of worship. Anyone applying it to church raffles has to carry that priority across, not simply the fact that money appeared in a religious setting. Money appears in religious settings every week, in offering plates and book tables. The question is always what the money is doing there and what it is displacing.
Does a raffle equal the money-changers' tables
A raffle sells chances on a prize, and the winner is chosen by lot. The money-changer sold a service at a location. Both involve commerce inside a religious community, but the activities differ. The money-changer provided a needed exchange for worshippers; the raffle generates revenue for the church by selling hope of a windfall. That difference cuts both ways, which is why sincere believers land in different places.
Some argue the temple cleansing condemns any commercial activity in the church's gathered life, so raffles are out. Others argue that Jesus targeted a specific abuse in a specific sacred space and that a raffle held in a fellowship hall after a potluck is a different category altogether. Both readings are attempting to be faithful rather than careless, and the text alone does not adjudicate between them.
Where the passage does speak clearly is this: whatever a church does with money must not crowd out prayer, worship, and the gathering of the nations to God. A raffle that becomes the main event, the reason people come, or the identity of the church has done exactly what the money-changers did. That is a warning worth taking seriously even if the practice is permitted.
The heart question: covetousness and the love of gain
The New Testament does not stop at temple furniture. It goes after the heart. Ephesians 5:3-5 groups covetousness with sexual immorality and uncleanness and says such things should not even be named among the saints. The point is that greed is not a minor sin; it is a rival worship. A person who builds life around getting more has set up an idol, and the church is not exempt from that danger.
A raffle trades on desire for gain. That is its engine. A participant buys a ticket because the prize is worth more than the ticket, and the church profits from that appetite. Even when the cause is good, the method teaches the congregation to give in order to get. That is the opposite of 2 Corinthians 9:7, where Paul says, "Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Giving in Scripture is voluntary, cheerful, and not motivated by a return.
This is why many pastors quietly withdraw raffles from their churches without ever making a public issue of it. They see that the method forms the wrong instinct. But they also know that a raffle for a mission trip is not the same moral weight as a casino, and they resist overstating the case. The heart question is real; it is also not automatically conclusive against every raffle in every setting.
Avoiding every form of evil without inventing new commands
First Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from every form of evil." That verse is often quoted in this discussion, but it is frequently stretched beyond what it says. The verse does not tell us whether raffles are evil; it tells us to abstain from evil when we see it. Using it as a blanket prohibition on anything that resembles gambling assumes the conclusion rather than proving it. That is a misstep, even when the underlying concern is right.
At the same time, the verse does place a burden on the church. If a practice is widely associated with gambling, addiction, and the loss of money by the poor, a church should ask whether it is willing to be identified with that association for the sake of a fundraiser. The cost is not only the money raised; it is the message sent. A congregation that wants to be known for generosity may not want to be known for selling chances.
There is also the matter of weaker consciences. Romans 14 is not in our supplied texts, but its logic is well known: some believers can do what others cannot in good conscience, and the strong are not to despise the weak. In a church, that means the burden of proof falls on the practice that divides, not on the person who hesitates.
Paul's example: ministry without money pressure
Acts 20:33-35 records Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders, and he begins with his own conduct: "I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing." He reminds them that he worked with his own hands to supply his needs and those with him, and he quotes the Lord Jesus on the blessedness of giving rather than receiving. Paul is not establishing a rule against fundraisers, but he is describing a posture.
Paul's ministry did not run on the appetite of the crowd for prizes. He did not craft appeals designed to extract money by dangling benefits. He taught, he worked, he gave, and he invited others to give freely. That pattern is a quiet rebuke to any church strategy that depends on excitement, chance, and the hope of return to move people to part with their money.
Notice also that Paul's concern is not only the money but the gospel's reputation. He refused to be a burden so no one could say he was in ministry for the money. A church that funds itself through raffles may find that its neighbors hear the gospel a little differently. The method can become a stumbling block, and Paul's example warns against that more than it forbids any particular event.
When the church becomes a vendor
The deepest issue in John 2:13-16 is identity. The temple was the house of God for all nations, and it had become a market. When a church becomes primarily a place where things are sold and chances are bought, the same drift has occurred. Visitors may walk in expecting prayer and find a ticket table by the door. Members may come for worship and leave feeling they were solicited.
This is not a hypothetical worry; it is a pattern any pastor can observe. Fundraising that depends on entertainment, prizes, and sales slowly reshapes what the congregation thinks church is for. The budget may balance, but the spiritual center shifts. The remedy is not necessarily to ban every event with a cost attached; it is to keep the main thing main, and to ask what the church is teaching by its methods.
A useful test is simple and does not require a verse on raffles. If the raffle were removed, would the worship, teaching, and giving of the church continue unchanged? If the answer is no, the raffle has taken a place it should not have. If the answer is yes, the question shifts to conscience, witness, and the weaker brother rather than to survival. That is a healthier place to decide.
How to decide in your own church
Start with Scripture's plain commands. Give willingly and cheerfully, as 2 Corinthians 9:7 says. Do not let covetousness be named among you, as Ephesians 5:3-5 warns. Abstain from every form of evil, as 1 Thessalonians 5:22 puts it. Keep the worship of God's house central, as John 2:13-16 shows. Follow Paul's example of ministry without greed, as Acts 20:33-35 describes it. None of these verses mentions a raffle, but together they set the boundaries within which the question should be asked.
Then weigh the specifics in your setting. Is the raffle voluntary and low-key, or is it pressed on everyone, including children and the poor? Does it teach people to give for a prize, or is it incidental to a larger fellowship event? Will it create confusion in a community already harmed by gambling? Would you be comfortable explaining it to a new believer who struggles with addiction? These are pastoral judgments, and faithful churches have reached different conclusions.
Finally, be honest about the limits of the case. You cannot prove from John 2:13-16 that a raffle is sin, and you cannot prove from it that a raffle is wise. What you can do is refuse to score points off other believers. If your church uses raffles, keep them small, transparent, and secondary. If your church abstains, do not despise those who differ. Both can honor the Lord, and both should be willing to change if Scripture or conscience requires it.
Biblical fidelity check
What John 2:13-16 establishes is that the temple courts were being used for commerce in a way that dishonored God's house and displaced worship and prayer. It shows Jesus acting with authority over that abuse. What the passage does not establish is a rule about raffles, lottery tickets, bingo, or any modern fundraising method. The text never mentions gambling, chance, or prizes. Anyone who claims this passage directly forbids church raffles is reading a conclusion into the text that the text does not contain, however well-intentioned that conclusion may be.
A common misreading treats the temple cleansing as if Jesus were condemning all money in religious contexts. But Jesus and his disciples handled money, received support from women who provided for them, and Paul taught churches to give. The issue was not the presence of coins but the corruption of worship. Another misreading uses 1 Thessalonians 5:22 as if abstaining from every form of evil meant avoiding anything someone dislikes. That reverses the verse: it calls evil what is evil, then tells us to flee it. Both errors make the Bible say more or less than it says.
Other passages that speak to John 2:13-16
For further study of the themes raised here, see What Does 1 Corinthians 1:10 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, which considers unity in a congregation where believers disagree. What Does 1 Corinthians 1:9 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application reflects on the call into fellowship with Christ. 1 Corinthians 1: Called, United, and Boasting in the Lord traces how the cross reshapes church life, and 1 Corinthians 10: Warnings and Freedom works through questions of liberty and conscience, which bear directly on disputed practices like this one.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Bible forbid church raffles?
The Bible does not mention raffles, so it does not forbid them by name. Passages such as John 2:13-16, Ephesians 5:3-5, and 1 Thessalonians 5:22 set principles about worship, greed, and evil, but applying those principles to raffles requires judgment. Faithful Christians differ. Some conclude a raffle trains people to give for a prize and undermines cheerful, voluntary giving. Others conclude a modest raffle at a fellowship event is harmless. What the Bible does not do is settle the question with a direct command, so the discussion should be conducted with humility rather than certainty.
Is a church raffle the same as gambling?
A raffle is a game of chance with a prize, which places it in the same family as gambling, though usually with smaller stakes and a charitable purpose. The Bible does not use the word gambling, and it does not prohibit casting lots, which Scripture uses at times for decision-making. The moral concern is not the mechanics of chance but the love of money and the desire for gain, which Ephesians 5:3-5 names as covetousness. Whether a particular raffle crosses that line is a matter of conscience, scale, and the effect on participants, especially the poor.
What should we do if our church disagrees about raffles?
Begin with Scripture read carefully, not with arguments borrowed from either side's worst examples. Recognize that John 2:13-16 addresses temple commerce, not raffles, and that 1 Thessalonians 5:22 assumes we already know what is evil. Then apply Romans 14's logic: the strong should not despise the weak, and the weak should not judge the strong. If the practice divides the congregation or confuses new believers, the burden falls on those who want to keep it. If it is small and secondary, it may be permissible without being required. Unity matters more than winning the argument.
