A week or so ago, my daughter, Jess (who wrote about The Chosen here on the blog, as well as false teachers, Steven Furtick and Bill Johnson), wrote something regarding Phil Vischer on her Facebook page. I believe this is information that would be helpful to you, my readers, and so, with her permission, I am sharing it here on the blog.
After doing quite a bit of research, she felt it necessary to warn fellow believers of this man’s departure from orthodox Christian faith. Phil is probably best known to Christians as the creator of Veggie Tales. Recently, he has been quite vocal on social media and what he is saying is not good.
I’d like to say right up front that I have never been a fan of Veggie Tales. I believe that they dumb down Bible stories and profane the sacred. They also train kids to relish the silly and ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with having fun but stupid is just..stupid. I recognize that not everyone will agree with me on this but I do think–no matter what your opinion about Veggie Tales– that it is important that we all take heed to what its creator believes.
Here is what Jess wrote–
Today I’m beginning a new feature entitled Warning Wednesday. The purpose of this is to warn you of the red flags associated with a popular christian figure. My goal is to make you aware of the ways these men and women are straying from the truth of Scripture. Sometimes, it will be so that you can approach the person with caution and with your eyes of discernment wide open. Sometimes (like today) I will suggest you steer clear of them altogether. I am not going to attack the person, assume their motivation, or judge their position before God. I only want to tell you what they are saying or doing and compare it to the truth of Scripture.
Up first is Phil Vischer. You probably know him as the guy that created Veggie Tales. He most recently began a podcast called The Holy Post. And in that podcast, he has made some very concerning statements. His twitter feed also gives us a glimpse into just how far from Scripture he is moving.
Red Flag #1: Phil recently tweeted “I’ve been listening to stories of people who have left the Church or left their faith entirely, and so often it comes down to a point where they just wanted to be loved, but we couldn’t love them because…they asked the wrong question or doubted the wrong tenet of our faith or reconsidered their own gender or sexual identity and for us, it was a bridge too far. This child of God…was no longer us. They were now ‘them.’ And because they were ‘them,’ we now denied they were ever truly us.” He ends with “For fear that others of ‘us’ could become ‘them’ if we don’t take a stand against the ‘them-ness’ of the one that was once ‘us’…not saying doctrine doesn’t matter. Just saying love over all.”
This sounds great on the surface, right? We should love others! But dig a little deeper and you soon see that he’s taking any church to task who disciplines those openly defying God’s Word by “doubting the wrong tenet of our faith” or “reconsidering their own gender or sexual identity.” He is redefining love according to the standard of the world rather than the Word of God. It is not loving to allow someone to remain in their sin. It is loving to rebuke and urge them to repent. Titus 1:3 and Galatians 6:1 are good examples of this. 1 John 2:19 says “They went out from us, because they were not of us.” Sorry, Phil, but the concept of “us” and “them” is a Biblical one.
Red Flag #2: He calls those who believe in a literal 7 day creation “anti-intellectual” and responsible for the rejection of mainstream science. If you don’t know why it’s absolutely vital that we believe in a 7 day creation, check out Answers in Genesis.
Red Flag #3: He is an outspoken supporter of critical race theory, Black Lives Matter, and social justice within the church. I don’t have the time in this post to go into the danger behind these things. But let me just tell you this. He calls all white people to task for their unconscious bias and affirms that all structures within the United States are unjust. His solution sounds a whole lot like socialism. Really? Maybe the problem is sin (a problem that affects each person, regardless of race) and the only solution is the Gospel? He never thought about offering that as the solution? Especially considering Jesus lived during a time of incredible injustice and his only message for the world was the Gospel.
Red Flag #4: He bashes anyone who limits women’s roles within the church. He laughs at conservatives. He claims fundamentalists are the problem in the evangelical christian world. He suggests we need to dismantle the corruption of the church and deconstruct certain aspects of our faith such as white privilege and patriarchy. All that matters is love and unity.
And so I recommend you stay far, far away from Phil Vischer. What he says often sounds good but if it’s contrary to God’s Word, it’s wrong no matter how good it sounds. Be very careful with what he offers for children (Veggie Tales and his What’s in the Bible? series) as I’d imagine these beliefs will sneak their way into those as well. It brings me no joy in sharing this with you, but I do hope it saves you or someone you know from following Phil down a very dangerous path.
Oh, dear. Thanks for sharing!
😊
Totally agree! Thanks, Jess!
It always circles back to this “identity” and “social justice” stuff, it seems. Fear of being cancelled over fear of God, I call it. Justice is justice, it doesn’t need a modifier, and the Bible speaks plenty of justice. REAL justice.
I’ll add that I’m a minority, and the most racist people to me have been the so-called “woke” that infantilize me, treat me like an exotic creature, and act like everyone in my culture thinks and acts the same.
It’s sad to hear that this person has taken a far left turn. They’re not biblical.
Thank you for your comment. It actually confirms what I have thought all along. The racism and division is stemming from those who are focusing on the racism and the division. They are the ones who are being racist. Of course, they can’t see this.
I had the great pleasure of being in a large public group of people (it was not a Christian gathering) the other day and there were all races there. It was even in the city. I did not see the racism depicted in the news in any way. I am not saying it doesn’t exist at all, but this constant assertion that it is everywhere and by all people is simply a wicked lie.
I have told my family often that I feel bad for people like you who aren’t going along with the narrative but get lumped in with those that are. I am sure that can be very challenging!
I think it would be an even better article if you did in the last paragraph what you did earlier and separate the truth from the error. White privilege is evil, but so is falsely accusing people of that when they are trying to love all races the same.
Falsely accusing? This post is not about loving all races the same (which, of course, we are to do as believers and is soundly backed up by scripture). However, there is a way to do this biblically and a way to do it unbiblically. Phil Vischer has chosen to disregard scripture in his efforts to do whatever he is doing and that is the purpose of this post. I’d appreciate if your comments would be directed toward the theme of the post rather than making false accusations about the post. Thanks :)