Wickedness!

So last night at Student Life, we started a great discussion. It was getting so good that we chose to leave it open, let everyone talk about it and think about it over the next week, and we'll see what kind of a conclusion we can come up with next Wednesday.

We started out simply talking about the differences between wickedness and righteousness. Proverbs 10:23-30 gives a number of hints in that direction.

But then we tried to answer the question "How do you think a person becomes wicked or righteous?" (pick one of the following as your answer - taken from Talksheets):

• People become righteous or wicked based on their upbringing.
• The choices people make determine if they will be righteous or wicked.
• A person is born one way or the other.
• God makes some people righteous and some people wicked.
• Wicked people are that way because they've gotten involved in the occult.
• People who give Christ control of their life will be made righteous.
• People become wicked or righteous based on who they hang out with.
• People can never be just wicked or just righteous - everyone is a mix of both.

Which one would you choose? Are people born wicked? Is there a difference between "wickedness" and "being in sin"? Is there a difference between "wickedness" and a "sin nature"? Are people born good but choose wickedness? Can a person be "in sin" and "righteous" at the same time?

I would encourage each family to talk through these questions over the next week. We'll look forward to moving closer towards a conclusion next Wednesday!