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"No Meat in "Veggie Tales"

When I was a little child, my favorite book was a red hardback book of Bible stories. I remember the ink drawings (not cartoons) of David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions’ den, and other beloved lessons from Scripture.

The stories were simply told with accurate details faithful to the biblical accounts. There was a vast difference between that book and the fairy tale books that I also enjoyed. I knew that the stories in that red book were real and the lessons were clear in each one.

You see, the Bible is not a book of fables to be revised and updated to suit the present culture. Nevertheless, God’s Word (along with education and other things) is being dumbed-down to the level of silly comical cartoons. This stirs concern in my heart for the way the Bible is being presented to children.

Consider the popular "Veggie Tales" series. The powerful Biblical account of Jonah’s experience has been reduced to a ridiculous entertainment vehicle that is touted as a marvelous way to teach children some important lessons. In reality, there is nothing – NOT ONE IOTA – in the biblical account that lends itself, even remotely, to humor. The very real events in Scripture are clearly a lesson in God’s concern for the lost, His wrath and judgment on those who persist in their heathen rebellion, and the dreadful consequences that a child of God faces when he disobeys God’s direct command.

And yet, someone has seen fit to create silly characters (in the forms of tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, etc.) and use them to teach the lessons of Jonah the prophet. But in the animated feature, the Ninevites are depicted as a group of people whose greatest sin is that they go around slapping each other with fishes. Is this too ridiculous to get a picture in your mind? Well, that is how they dumbed-down the story of a people who were utterly lost and without all hope apart from God’s mercy.

They have reduced the compelling true account that the Holy Spirit inspired to be recorded in His glorious Word (God’s message for mankind) to a depiction that in no way resembles the truth and is void of the grave aspects of hate and prejudice, disobedience to God, and God’s wrath, judgment, and mercy that are the main points of the biblical lesson.

So tell me, how serious will the children take Scripture if they have been fed this mush that bears no resemblance to what God intended to be learned from His Word? What is to keep them from equating such versions of Bible accounts with the Saturday morning cartoons or any other form of amusement?

Have you ever wondered why we don’t see many young people accepting God’s call into ministry these days? Perhaps it is because they have been taught to look at Holy Scripture without the gravity that it is meant to convey, and this troubles me deeply.

Copied – Northern Missionary Landmark Baptist – June 2006