What is Wicked?

The title is an interesting question. Let me ask it in a different way. What image comes to mind when you think of the word “wicked”? Got it? Hold it for a moment.

Let’s see how the dictionary defines it: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition) wick•ed \ˈwi-kəd\ adj - wick•ed•ly adv
1 : morally very bad : evil 2 a: fierce, vicious 〈a wicked dog b: disposed to or marked by mischief : roguish 3 a: disgustingly unpleasant : vile b: causing or likely to cause harm, distress, or trouble 4 : going beyond reasonable or predictable limits : of exceptional quality or degree 〈throws a wicked fastball〉

I suppose your definition and picture of the word most probably fits the dictionary’s categories, does it not?

This week I have been reading the story of king of Israel and I was powerfully struck. This king was politically powerful, secularly successful, religiously passionate, relationally collaborative and militarily mighty. He could actually become a case study for successful living, being a reflective example of much of the activity of modern man. But the Bible declared him as wicked. Here lies the problem; perhaps we have too narrow of a definition of the word “wicked” as portrayed biblically. Perhaps we think of the term only in the most egregious acts, never associating them term with the successful.

I combed the scripture, looking first to the kings and then to a fuller view for a clearer understanding, I posed the question above. Here is the definition based on usage that I concluded:

Wicked: to live and act as if God does not exist.

That narrows the playing field. Every time we forget God, we are being wicked. Ouch! Even great deeds and massive achievements cannot shroud wickedness. They, deeds and achievements, can deceive us into thinking that we are not so wicked, and this too is a problem.

Let me summarize the first three commandments in a single statement to demonstrate what I’m saying.

Remember God, Respect God, Reflect God. Do you see the progression? If we think of God and think on God we will begin to reflect His life in our living. The opposite it true. If we fail to think of God and on God we will fail to reflect and represent Him too.

I pray with Jeremiah,
O Jerusalem,[ place your name here] wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? Jer 4:14

Chris Gilliam © 2009