By Chuck Asay
[This post is part of a conversation around the new book by Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper,Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art, now featured at the Patheos Book Club.]
Artists On Call in Culture: A Generous Mind Conversation
I just got a call from my fictional partner, Laura Liberal. She wants to know if I’m an idiot or what? How am I going to respond? Laura is a person I made up in my head. She often appears in my cartoons as a spokesperson for the Left. She is not real. She is a composite of a number of people I worked with in a newsroom at the Gazette in Colorado Springs.
I like Laura. We disagree on most issues, but we agree on some. She helps me figure out my own worldview and I continually challenge hers.
She hates me. I’m one of those religious, right-wing, Bible-thumpin’ wackos who get in the way of her concept of progress. But, on the other hand, she likes me because I make her feel superior. She has hope in enlightened government leadership. I have hope in an invisible God. She thinks I believe in magic…caught somehow in a web of ancient superstition. I believe she suffers under the illusion of adequacy. We’re friends because I think God loves her as much as He loves me.
Make no mistake; this is not an easy relationship. Lots of people think “love” is soft and fuzzy. It’s not.
There is blood on the floor. Christ died for sinners like Laura and me. To understand what makes Laura tick, I need to first understand my own flaws. I’m a lot like Laura so it makes sense that I should sift her questions and “hear” what she is asking. I’m on call. I have a responsibility…no, the privilege… to offer Laura life. How I respond to her is not up to me, it’s up to the one “who lives in me.” (This is where the theme song of JAWS comes in.) It gets weird.
As I read the Scriptures, I’m finding more and more how the disciples felt as they followed Jesus. They were always surprised at how He responded to the challenges that met them. They often thought He was crazy but they had nowhere else to go. They were committed. They knew He was their master. They, too, suffered under the illusion of adequacy so they HAD to trust Him.
Laura is calling me now and is questioning my sanity. How should I respond? I just need to tell her the truth in love. Sometimes I might make a mistake and tell her what “I” think. That’s where God’s grace kicks in. He not only loves us but He forgives us when we say stupid things. It seems God is asking me to have some kind of a relationship with Laura.
I am privileged to have a public forum as I engage Laura (and myself) in the political culture of our day.
Should you like to view these conversations you can go to www.asaydoodle.com. What would I like to see change in this current cartoon culture? Nothing, except I would like to grow a bit closer to Christ as I walk with Him. He’s dangerous, (as C.S. Lewis said) but He is good.
Blessings,
Chuck Asay
Editorial cartoonist with Creator’s Syndicate
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