Veggie-Fails

Bad news in the Christian merchandise industry . . . I use that phrase sardonically, have no fear. But the sad news is this: following the $24 box office that the Veggie-Tales movie "Jonah" raked in just last year, the production company (Big Idea Productions) has declared bankruptcy. Following the model of many secular companies, BIP took their success and parlayed it into expansion, growing much too big way too fast. The most telling quote came from CEO Phil Vischer, who said, "When things were going so well, I thought God was wanting us to expand . . . Now I think it was more me having all these ideas." I must confess that I have no sympathy for this incredible juvenille theology. Mainstream evangelicalism has successfully put down the "prosperity doctrine" as far as actual money goes, but the concept is still there in the notion that if we please God, He will bring us success in our ventures on our terms. I just do not get that. Mr. Vischer and his company is just the latest of a long string of people coming to grips with that faulty paradigm.