Homo incurvatus in se -
the human being
curved in on itself

Sometimes we can be struck by a particular picture, or way of explaining something, that stays with us. In his sermon a couple of weeks ago, Matt Osgood shared one such phrase from Martin Luther. It was to describe sin as “the human being curved in on itself.” This image of being curved in on our ourselves immediately resonated with me and has stayed with me ever since.
 
Within this image is the idea that we are born with a tendency to turn inward on ourselves and to seek our own good at the expense of others and at the expense of God. Put another way, it can mean we want to be our own gods, and this leads us to sin. The ‘curve’ implies that it’s something exponential and insatiable: the steeper the curve, the worse things become - selfishness, greed, envy, lust …
 
Looking out to the world around us, it is hard to deny the increasing focus on ourselves. This is certainly not something new; human beings have always had this tendency, traceable all the way back to Adam and the “original sin.” But the way in which it has begun to pervade public consciousness in recent times is stark.
 
You only have to look at social media to see an obsession with self. Millions of hours of selfies and people documenting every minute of their lives.
 
The 'self' help genre is huge - worth $46 billion in 2023. That’s about the same size as the GDP of Tunisia! It’s not only books these days but podcasts and videos on subjects devoted to self - fitness, image, self-improvement … - and these are getting huge followings online.
 
And more subtly, have you noticed how common it is for sentences to start this way: "For me, personally…" OK, this is a bit silly, but I do find it very revealing how this has become common vernacular.
 
And we are all susceptible. It's my happiness, my well-being, my relationship, my health, my life. We are curved in on ourselves!
 
This is not intended to be a finger-wagging exercise; none of us is immune from this. I frequently get sucked into the 'me' cycle of thinking. The thing is, it's not good for us and this is what both Martin Luther and Augustine (who coined this expression) were getting at.
 
Jesus told us that the two most important commandments were to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … and to love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus couldn’t be clearer. Love God, love others. When you do this, love flows from the inside out. This is not to say our lives should not matter, quite the opposite. This is where the wonderful upside down kingdom shows itself again; by putting God first, we benefit!
 
The evidence supports this. As an example, it has been proven in numerous studies that volunteering has amazing mental health benefits … for the person volunteering. Isn't that amazing - we turn from ourselves to help others and we also benefit. It’s the same with forgiveness. By forgiving others, we benefit. It's almost as if God knows what is good for us!
 
There is another core message behind this phrase. It is that, as humans, we all have separation from God. Sin is not simply a time we have been naughty or done wrong, it is fundamentally separation from God and the very thing Jesus was dealing with on the cross. Being curved in on ourselves is a form of separation. We need to correct the curve and turn our lives towards God.
 
Through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be transformed from inward-focused people to outward-focused people. All we need to do is ask for God’s help and He will not let us down.
 
Prayer - Heavenly Father, help us daily to turn back to you. Amen

Photo by Marc Kleen on Unsplash