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It is true that children (and adults) do not understand all that is said to them. In no case does that justify altering the truth so that they can understand it. Better to understand only part of the truth then only part of a non-truth.
That said, so much of what passes for Christian material for children seems to alter the gospel of Jesus Christ. Main points from lessons I have exposed my children to from Veggie Tales are:
To overcome temptation, enlist the help of friends (and, also, God) - Larry Boy and the Bad Apple
Put the interests of others first - Duke and the Great Pie Wars
Follow God's Directions - Moe and the Big Exit
Love People, even if they are different - God made You Special
Use your Gifts to serve Others - Lord of the Beans
My problem: Men (and the children of men) are incapable of doing good apart from a regeneration of character that comes from the Holy Spirit, conditioned on repentance and saving faith in Christ. In every Veggie Tale lesson, a hero succeeds in doing good without reference to the salvation experience. The born-again experience and regeneration of character is absent from these "moral lessons". When we teach "moral lessons" to children (or adults), we are teaching the law. The teaching of the law does not produce a hero who succeeds, but a child (or adult) who fails. Thus, the atonement of Christ. That harsh reality is gospel. To pass by that reality of man's inability to do good to make moral points sets children (and adults) up to fail to maintain the moral standards that their heroes attained. They will not be able to overcome temptation, and enlisting their friends to help, as did Larry Boy, is the wrong strategy. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the right strategy. Is there no one who preaches the gospel to children?
I pick on Veggie Tales not because I do not like them - I pick on them because I own them and my children are watching them over and over. I suspect that much Sunday School material falls into the same error. Does anyone know of a worthy replacement?
That said, so much of what passes for Christian material for children seems to alter the gospel of Jesus Christ. Main points from lessons I have exposed my children to from Veggie Tales are:
To overcome temptation, enlist the help of friends (and, also, God) - Larry Boy and the Bad Apple
Put the interests of others first - Duke and the Great Pie Wars
Follow God's Directions - Moe and the Big Exit
Love People, even if they are different - God made You Special
Use your Gifts to serve Others - Lord of the Beans
My problem: Men (and the children of men) are incapable of doing good apart from a regeneration of character that comes from the Holy Spirit, conditioned on repentance and saving faith in Christ. In every Veggie Tale lesson, a hero succeeds in doing good without reference to the salvation experience. The born-again experience and regeneration of character is absent from these "moral lessons". When we teach "moral lessons" to children (or adults), we are teaching the law. The teaching of the law does not produce a hero who succeeds, but a child (or adult) who fails. Thus, the atonement of Christ. That harsh reality is gospel. To pass by that reality of man's inability to do good to make moral points sets children (and adults) up to fail to maintain the moral standards that their heroes attained. They will not be able to overcome temptation, and enlisting their friends to help, as did Larry Boy, is the wrong strategy. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the right strategy. Is there no one who preaches the gospel to children?
I pick on Veggie Tales not because I do not like them - I pick on them because I own them and my children are watching them over and over. I suspect that much Sunday School material falls into the same error. Does anyone know of a worthy replacement?