lost sheep

This cartoon puts a twist to the familiar parable of the lost sheep, found in the Gospels of Matthew 18 and Luke 15.

Here, the sheep is leaving the ninety-nine other sheep to go look for Jesus, who apparently (from all appearances) has left the building.

Have you ever felt like this, or done this? Perhaps some friends or family members have expressed such sentiments....

Why is this happening? Where did we as a church go astray, that some need to leave to go look for Jesus elsewhere?

boycott



Conservative religious people like boycotting, especially in the U.S. I remember how in the 1980's they were boycotting Proctor and Gamble products. Why, you ask? Because the original logo for P&G looked Satanic to them. Turns out that the 13 stars are not about Satan but are for the original 13 American states, and that the face is "the man in the moon." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procter_%26_Gamble (logo controversy section) for the whole story if you are interested.

In more recent years, the religious right have boycotted various products and companies, including Disney because Disney was having some special days for gay and lesbian people. This cartoon was inspired by such things.

the narrow gate

Who's in and who's out? What overt or subtle signs are there indicating who is welcome?

When is it better to leave? Necessary to leave?

The narrow gate that leads to life is not always what people expect it to be.....

messed up

At least several ironies here, from thinking that he has it all together to the ludicrous idea that a person had the power to determine who can enter the kingdom of heaven and in what order. Of course, that's a game that's often played, with unfortunate consequences as people are judged and subsequently leave never to return (or never enter a church to begin with).

Who decides who gets into heaven? Has someone decided that you or someone you love won't be allowed in? Or shouldn't be allowed in?

no transfats

This is the first cartoon which I drew in conjunction with thinking about the range of topics which you will see this blog covering. It takes a symbol which we find on many food products and gives it a little twist by applying it to a church.

How does the sign's message interact with the message of the official 'all welcome' sign?

How might the person approaching the church be feeling about it? How might ze feel when considering the sign and the person in the doorway?

Are all really welcome here? How about at your church, in your workplace, in your home?

welcome

Welcome to with arms wide open: an exploration of exclusion and embrace.

This blog is about moving away from the stance of exclusion and rejection of others which is found in so many people who call themselves Christians, and moving to embrace other people no matter what. Just like Jesus. He continually moved toward those at the margins of life. He ate with tax collectors and sinners, he touched lepers, he interacted with outcasts. His arms were wide open to those around him, loving them, accepting them where they are at, and inviting them to take part in the kingdom.

My vision is that followers of Jesus would be known for being for those who are oppressed and  marginalized, and that those who are marginalized, oppressed, poor, outcast could walk into any church and be welcomed wholeheartedly and without hesitation.

My goal with this blog is to provoke thinking about our attitudes and actions, in a way that results in us being more like Jesus in our interactions with one another, and specifically with people who are marginalized. This blog falls into the general category of "social commentary" (definition) and as such uses a variety of techniques including hyperbole, tongue-in-cheek, sarcasm, inversion and quotes from others in supplementing the actual cartoons. Of course, once in a while you might just find some silliness without a deeper meaning.

I'm not an artist. I'm just a guy who draws in order to communicate ideas, which is why many of these cartoons have stick or circle-head people. Some cartoons have more detailed people which look okay after several drafts (for example, in the early version of one cartoon, Jesus' disciples looked like they were from the Planet of the Apes). While I used to post 6-10 posts per month, you can now expect one to four posts per month. Generally, posts with [square brackets] around the title indicate that they are about third-party material (quotes from others, book mentions, etc) and posts without square brackets indicate that they contain material by me -- usually cartoons and commentary or a lengthier article but sometimes other content like horrid false apology poems.

Though I like thinking about things and my mind keeps generating new ideas for cartoons, I'm not a philosopher either. I'm hoping that the comments and discussion which you contribute will help all of us learn how to live together as the one body of Christ.

Inviting you to journey with me,


rob goetze
amateur lover. aspiring stigmatoclast. fledgling advocateur.


p.s. Despite having a similar title, this blog is not about Miroslav Volf's amazing book Exclusion and Embrace, though I have been reading it and quote from it on occasion. I would have liked to have some variation of "with arms wide open" in the web address, but they were all taken. "Exclusion and embrace" struck a chord and was available for use.

p.p.s. Lately I have not been drawing that many cartoons, as I have been involved in other matters including writing longer papers. However, the older posts often have cartoons.

Last edited December 17, 2018