Veggie Tales Gospel

I’ve got nothing against Veggie Tales. I watched it when I was young and loved it, but this snippet from Russell Moore was too hilarious not to quote:

“Have you ever seen the episode of “Veggie Tales” in which the main characters are martyred by anti-Christian terrorists? You know, the one in which Bell Z. Bulb, the giant garlic demon, and Nero Caesar Salad, the tyrannical vegetable dictator, take on the heroes for their faith in Christ. Remember how it ends? Remember the cold dead eyes of Larry the cucumber behind glass: pickled for the sake of the Gospel? Remember Bob the tomato: all that remained was ketchup and seeds?”

The point is not a mindless attack at Veggie Tales. I do think Moore makes a good point: Veggie Tales is more about making kids moral and good rather than pointing them to Christ. And not to say that there’s anything wrong with making kids learn morals. Moore just uses this example to point to a bigger problem: the fact that more and more, our churches are teaching rules and morals and not Christ. He calls it a “Veggie Tales” gospel, and all it leads to is condemnable self-righteousness. Here’s how Moore concludes his essay:

“Let’s not simply teach our people how to be moral or how to be well-tempered or how to be authentic or how to put the erotic energy back into their marriages. Let’s teach them how to find themselves in Christ, to conform to His life and to follow His steps through His Spirit, looking always to His cross, His resurrection and His glory. Let’s put aside the cartoons, whether in our children’s programs or in our Sunday morning sermons, and proclaim Christ.”

We would do well to remember that.

Text quoted from Southern Seminary Magazine, Spring 2008