Veggie Tales: Moralism, Not Christianity?

There have been recent reports from Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer that he spent much of his time with Veggie Tales promoting moralism, not Christianity.  He recently stated
"I looked back at the previous 10 years and realized I had spent 10 years trying to convince kids to behave Christianly without actually teaching them Christianity. And that was a pretty serious conviction. You can say, “Hey kids, be more forgiving because the Bible says so,” or “Hey kids, be more kind because the Bible says so!” But that isn’t Christianity, it’s morality. . . . And that was such a huge shift for me from the American Christian ideal.  
We’re drinking a cocktail that’s a mix of the Protestant work ethic, the American dream, and the gospel. And we’ve intertwined them so completely that we can’t tell them apart anymore. Our gospel has become a gospel of following your dreams and being good so God will make all your dreams come true. It’s the Oprah god."
My friends, I believe the Gospel revolution will continue to grow in America as America Pop-Evangelicals are freed from their captive of Pelagianism.  Praise God for this revelation towards Phil and his most recent testimony!  


HT: Norm Fisher, Bob Thune

Comments

Matt said…
First, a compliment to your blog. You do an excellent job of keeping the Gospel and doctrine front and center as does ihoppe.com. These are the only two I still read on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, the majority of conservative Lutheran pastors whose blogs I used to read could learn a lesson from Vischer. Far too many Lutheran pastors run an adult version of Veggie Tales on their blogs and discussion boards, spending most of their time pointing out how awful our society is, how a Christian should behave and lamenting the persecution they believe they are experiencing or will experience from a post-modern world. Sorry, guys, but standing up for morality is not the same as standing up for Christ and if more than a week goes by without a clear presentation of Gospel then it just might be that you are cucumber in disguise.