Wicked: Seeking change for good

With Wicked out now in cinemas, Naomi Hill encourages us to seek justice and reconciliation where God has placed us.

The well-loved musical Wicked has hit the big screen as a film, split into two parts. The story sees Elphaba, with all her quirks and green skin, somewhat misunderstood, yet she forges an unlikely friendship with a polar opposite and extravagant character named Glinda. As they journey together, they both realise their lives are taking very different paths, yet they come to accept one another as they are. The musical takes us on this powerful journey and towards Elphaba accepting herself and declaring to the world who she is.

A major part of the musical – and now the film – is the soundtrack that so beautifully takes us on this powerful journey. One key moment when we musically see a clear shift towards reconciliation between the two women is in an intimate duet: after the striking and somewhat argumentative introduction of ‘Defying Gravity’, we enter into Elphaba’s climax of the song. ‘It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap,’ she sings.

Amid the genius music composition and the hype of a new film, there is a strong message of justice and, importantly, of reconciliation too. Through the acceptance and love shown in the unlikeliest places, we see two characters reconcile in a powerful and unexpected way.

Glinda would never have paired herself to be friends with Elphaba, yet there is a purpose in the uniting of these characters – for themselves and for others around them too. ‘I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason,’ sings Glinda in the song ‘For Good’, which will appear in Wicked: Part Two, set to be released in November 2025.

Might we then be drawn to consider how the places where we are placed matter, how the unusual, unexpected patterns of our lives are not random? The people we interact with, the things we are passionate about, are not by chance, not meaningless, but rather a part of God’s wider plan for his justice in the world.

There is nothing unintentional about God and the way he works. God shapes us and seeks justice through the seeming randomness of life, so let’s be raring and ready: ready to have eyes of justice and hearts of acceptance as we serve and journey with one another.

Just like the characters in Wicked, our perceptions sometimes need a shift. In Christ, we can confidently close our eyes and leap, knowing that nothing is by chance, and that we can let the God of great purpose and justice take the lead.

God will use the events of your everyday life to fulfil his covenantal purpose and justice in your life and in our world. Along the way, he will shape us as we walk with him in faith. Will you place the God of justice at the centre of it all, and allow justice and reconciliation to flow and reveal the love and character of God? Just close your eyes and take the leap…

Reflect and respond

• Listen to the song ‘For Good’ and reflect on the lines ‘I know who I am today because I knew you’ and ‘because I knew you I have been changed for good’. Can you say that of your relationship with God? Can you say that of your relationships with other people?
• Read Micah 6:8. What does God require of you in the place he has placed you?
• Pray for trust and a sense of God’s purpose in the unexpected events of life.

Thanks to Bethany and Tilly for contributing ideas to this article. Naomi, Bethany and Tilly are all members of the Territorial Justice and Reconciliation Youth Forum.