CURVED!

This phrase is heard and seen in every station of the London Underground: Mind the Gap. A note of caution to passengers reminding them of the gap between carriage door and station platform. The problem? Misalignment. Train cars are, obviously, straight. But not all platforms are. Therefore, the distance between these straight cars and those non-straight platforms can be significant at certain points. Besides, some stations service trains with different floor heights, such that platforms, not perfectly aligned to the height of a standard car, create yet another potentially dangerous gap. A gap through which you don’t want to fall. Thus … Mind the Gap. Misalignment—platforms not aligned to trains.

Most stations in Toronto have adopted the practice as well; so also some in Singapore, Hong Kong, Athens, and Paris. Such signs, however, are increasingly rare—apparently, curved platforms are not in vogue!

Misaligned. So are we. Warped … when compared with the only standard of straightness (righteousness)—God. Straight car : curved platform :: “straight” God : curved human. Misaligned.

Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
Revelation 15:4

And in the dazzling light of that holiness, all of us human beings are curved and crooked, distorted and deviant, with a propensity towards sin that is “caught, not taught.” Classic theologians describe mankind as incurvatus in se—curved inward, on itself. Luther agreed, in his Lectures on Romans:

“Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin, is so deeply curved in on itself that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them …, but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake.”

While believers in Christ have been declared righteous (“straight”) before God—i.e., justified—there still is a gap between that aligned position and our misaligned practice. Mind the gap!

O LORD,
lead me in Your righteousness …;
make Your way straight before me.
Psalm 5:8

And it is God’s Word, the Bible, that the Holy Spirit employs to keep us straight.

Oh that my ways may be
established to keep Your statutes!
Then I shall not be ashamed
when I look upon
all Your commandments.
I shall give thanks to You
with uprightness [straightness]
of heart, when I learn
Your righteous judgments.
Psalm 119:5–7

One day, however, all of this curvature and crookedness, distortion and deviance, all of this misalignment and mismatching—all of this sin—will be banished! A gapless existence!

… creation itself also
will be set free
from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory
of the children of God.
Romans 8:21

When the Righteous King comes to reign, all things will be straightened, rectified, debugged.

And the government
will rest on His shoulders;
and His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the
increase of His government
or of peace, on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and righteousness
from then on and forevermore.
Isaiah 9:6–7

And until that time, we wait …

… according to His promise …
looking for new heavens
and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:13

Till then, may we, in the strength of the Spirit, live lives aligned to His holy standard.

Teach me Your way, O LORD,
and lead me in a straight path.
Psalm 27:11

Mind the gap!