When you hear the word “wicked”, what do you think of? We might think of terrorism, sexual immorality, murder, stealing, lying, child abuse, etc. There are many actions that most Christians have no problem calling “wicked”.

However, Jesus seems to have a much broader definition of the word “wicked” than many of us do. In the parable of the three servants in Matthew 25, the master says to the third man, “You wicked, lazy servant!” (Matthew 25:26). Why was he wicked? Simply because he had neglected to fulfill his duty. Jesus says that wickedness includes not using what we have been given. Wickedness in this case is just plain old laziness. According to Jesus’ definition of wickedness, there must be a lot of wicked people in a lot of churches, because there are a lot of people who profess to follow Jesus, but aren’t doing anything to prove their faith!

May we always allow Jesus to have the last word! In this case, let us allow Jesus to define “wicked” for us. And let us never fall into a wicked, lazy lifestyle!