Last week the latest iteration of VeggieTales - VeggieTales in the House - was released on Netflix. Its release has grieved me greatly.
Not because of the show. No, the new show is excellent. It features the uber-talents of Doug TenNapel and Michael J. Nelson. (Two of my favorite living creative-types).
The show features wonderfully updated versions of the vegetables. More than that, the stories are engaging and rooted in biblical truths.
So what's the problem?
The problem has been the way believers have responded to this show. Just head over to the official facebook page and spend a few minutes looking at the comments. They're ugly. They're incessant. And they're petty.
Believers have accused the creators of "ruining their childhood," "being on drugs while designing," and being "disgusting tools."
Most of the comments are not this accusatory, but there are hundreds of hundreds of people whining constantly about the redesign.
If this is what Western Christianity has become - spending our time and emotional energy complaining about cartoon designs - then we are doomed.
This same energy could go into a variety of other things (reaching out to the poor, advocating against modern-day slavery, evangelizing our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ). But if this is how we choose to respond to an issue that doesn't really matter - we're in trouble. We're the Church of Laodicea whose works are utterly useless and disgust our Lord.
Remember: Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. - Luke 16:10 HCSB
(This was cited on one of the new VeggieTales in the House episodes)
If we can't show grace and Christian charity in this situation, we most certainly won't when the larger issues bear down on us.
Not because of the show. No, the new show is excellent. It features the uber-talents of Doug TenNapel and Michael J. Nelson. (Two of my favorite living creative-types).
The show features wonderfully updated versions of the vegetables. More than that, the stories are engaging and rooted in biblical truths.
So what's the problem?
The problem has been the way believers have responded to this show. Just head over to the official facebook page and spend a few minutes looking at the comments. They're ugly. They're incessant. And they're petty.
Believers have accused the creators of "ruining their childhood," "being on drugs while designing," and being "disgusting tools."
Most of the comments are not this accusatory, but there are hundreds of hundreds of people whining constantly about the redesign.
If this is what Western Christianity has become - spending our time and emotional energy complaining about cartoon designs - then we are doomed.
This same energy could go into a variety of other things (reaching out to the poor, advocating against modern-day slavery, evangelizing our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ). But if this is how we choose to respond to an issue that doesn't really matter - we're in trouble. We're the Church of Laodicea whose works are utterly useless and disgust our Lord.
Remember: Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. - Luke 16:10 HCSB
(This was cited on one of the new VeggieTales in the House episodes)
If we can't show grace and Christian charity in this situation, we most certainly won't when the larger issues bear down on us.
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