Who Are the "Wicked"?

The Bible says a lot about wickedness, of course, much more than this short article can recount. But I did run across four passages about these people in Proverbs 15 which I wish to share with you, one of them perhaps a bit surprising.

Proverbs 15:28-"...the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil." Nothing terribly surprising about this. Wicked people use foul language, lie, slander, gossip, sow discord, teach error, and a few other sins of the tongue that the reader can ponder over at leisure.

Proverbs 15:26-"The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord..." No surprise here, either. "For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he," (Prov. 23:7). A man first wills to do sin, mulls it over, thinking about it, then does it. Please note that even the thought is evil. Commiting adultery, for example, is bad enough; but even lusting without the actual act is condemned by Jesus (Mt. 5:27-28). This "lusting" person might appear, on the outside, to be an angel robed in white; but inwardly, he's full of dead men's bones. Just because a person thinks wicked thoughts does not always mean he will perform them. The Lord knows and is not pleased.

Proverbs 15:9-"The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." Frequently, after he has thought about it, the wicked fulfills his actions. Such a course obviously is contrary to righteousness. But once more, there is nothing shocking in this verse; naturally, the path the wicked person treads is abhorrent to the Lord.

Proverbs 15:8-"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abominiation to the Lord." Did you ever realize that you might be sitting next to a wicked person in worship? What in the world is the wicked doing "sacrificing" to God? This doesn't exactly fit our stereotype of "wickedness." Evil people are wicked--that's who is "wicked," correct? Yes, they are. But so are hypocrites. And they are "an abominiation to the Lord."

Ultimately, there are only two kinds of people--the saved and lost, the sheep and the goats, the saint and the sinner, the righteous and the wicked. Indeed, there are some "wicked" people who are "wickeder" than others; but, anyone who is not right with the Lord can properly fit the definition of wicked. And they might be shaking hands with you in worship next Sunday morning.