Crooked ways
I. CROOKED WAYS ARE DEVIATIONS FROM THE STRAIGHT PATHS OF MORAL SIMPLICITY. The man of high character is simple in conduct. Great complexity of motive is generally a sign of moral laxity. The way of right is straight because it makes for its goal without any considerations of expediency, danger, or]pleasure. To be turned aside from the steep Hill of Difficulty, or into By-path Meadows is to forsake the right for selfish ease. When men allow considerations of momentary advantage to guide their actions, they will be perpetually swayed from side to side till their track is marked by an irregular "zigzag." "The expression of truth," rays Seneca, "is simplicity."
II. CROOKED WAYS ARE SIGNS OF LACK OF PRINCIPLE. Principles are like the rails on which the train runs, keeping it in a direct course and facilitating its speed. The unprincipled man is off the rails, and the result is confusion. Like a ship without compass, rudder, or chart, the unprincipled man drifts with wind and tide, and so leaves behind him a crooked track. The security for straightforward conduct is the guidance of a deep-seated principle of righteousness.
III. CROOKED WAYS RESULT FROM SHORT-SIGHTED AIMS. The lane which is made, bit by bit, from farm to farm, is likely to wind about; but the old Roman high road that connects two distant cities runs as directly as possible. The ploughman who looks no further than his horses' heads will make a crooked furrow; to go straight he must fix his eyes on the end of the field. He who regards only present circumstances will wander aimlessly. To go right we must look out of self to Christ; beyond present expediency to the full purpose and end of life; above all earthly pursuits to the goal of the life eternal.
IV. CROOKED WAYS ARE DECEITFUL WAYS. Bad men often fear to go straight towards their evil aims lest they shall be discovered. They beat about the bush. The assassin avoids the high road and slinks along under a hedge, that he may come upon his victim unawares. The thief breaks into the house by the back door. Honesty is direct; dishonesty is circuitous. Crooked ways tend to become deceitful, if they are not so of set purpose. A man may wander in them till he has lost account of the points of the compass, and knows not whither he is going. The most elementary notions of right and wrong are then confused. This is the common issue of casuistic and disingenuous conduct; it results in self-deception.
V. CROOKED WAYS LEAD TO A FATAL END. The way to heaven is to "turn to the right, and keep straight on." The road that leads to destruction is broad, admitting of much irregularity of motion from one side to the other. It is the straight and narrow way that leads to life.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON