CUT THE VINE AND THE TOMATO ROTS; Colouring Sheets Aren't Enough

Talking vegetables. Brilliant.

Phil Vischer you are genius. Ahead of your time. Top gourd. 

If you don’t know who I am talking about Phil Vischer was the mastermind behind Veggie Tales.  

The man responsible for a Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. More - Mr. Vischer is responsible for a generation of kids who fell in love with the stories of the Bible and a guilt-ridden love/hate relationship with vegetables. 

I still can’t eat an asparagus without thinking about Jr. 

Poor Jr. 

Charred and delicious. 

Mr. Vischer’s roll down the aisle of veg brought an awareness to children’s ministry that was lacking in the early 90’s. Sure we had flannel graph and colouring sheets and the midweek programs. But as kids we lived in the adult world. Adult services. Adult songs. Adult Christianity. And Veggie Tales put us kids on the map! Mr. Vischer’s ingenious storytelling threw kids-min into the sanctuary and larger church world! Playfulness spilled the halls and auditoriums and gyms of our churches: cucumbers in song, snarky back-talking tomatoes, chocolate bunnies and beard-fuzz peaches! Adults loved Bob and Larry as much as the kids! Jesus on display in full-harvest-colour.

Mr. Vischer had dared to dream. He dared to invite children into the larger halls of the Evangelical mainstream. Advocate for the unheard. He dared to invite adults to enter into the world of children, to enter their worlds, and play. And he did so from the position of childlikeness. 

Mr. Vischer fought up. Fought out of the basement classrooms of our churches where the children dwell. He paved the way for people like me to carry the torch - that preverbal skewer! But as radical talking tomatoes and cucumbers were and as incredible his ministry purpose was - the videos, advocacy, and voice was not enough. And I daresay that the real work of Phil Vischer’s ‘fight up’ lost out to the ideological priorities of the adults-in-the-room. The resulting tragedy of Veggie Tales is the tragedy of most Children’s Ministry initiatives: they became colouring sheets, symbols, tropes. Empty VBS boxes full of memories of yesteryear’s efforts

The vegetables spoiled. 

Cut the vine and the tomato rots. 

It seems to me that Phil Vischer’s efforts were far more nuanced than simply making cool videos for kids. His ‘ministry’ to kids was actually an invitation to adults embrace the spirit of Bob and Larry - the spirit of childlikeness.

It is not enough to give space for kids to run and play. It is not enough to put on a good show with a moral lesson. What our kids really need is for the adults-in-the-room to become like kids. It is time for the adults-in-the-room to embrace their place as sons and daughters - adopted children of the Father! It is time for us to become like Kids as Jesus instructed. 

To be creatures of imagination. People of play. Characters of the grand story: the narrative of God’s redemption in the world. 

It is time for our churches to be gathering places of spiritual playfulness sociological playgrounds where the entire family of families can gather as one. 

It is time for us to embrace our inner veg - and become like children. 

(just a quick thought)