The 2024 movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked introduces the misnamed Wicked Witch, Elphaba, with a child’s question: “Why does wickedness happen?” Glinda answers with the story of Elphaba’s childhood, one in which she is neglected and ridiculed for her green skin. Elphaba grows into her so-called wickedness in response, but it’s clear that the people responsible for the neglect and ridicule are the real wicked ones. As Christians, we understand sin as something all of us possess. “Wickedness” does, we believe, just happen to all of us, but it finds expression when we judge others in self-righteousness and pride (“Are People Born Wicked? (Elphaba’s Backstory),” YouTube, March 5, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHHnh5h8LqM).
