Who am I? From humble beginnings my fame has grown exponentially. I have followers all over the world. I am known for healing the blind and deaf. Despite my good works I was crucified publicly.
I’m not sure who you are thinking of, but the answer I’m looking for is YouTube star MrBeast, or phrased in Jeopardy terms, “Who is MrBeast?” MrBeast is one of the biggest YouTube stars in the world with over 200 million subscribers. His channel is known for filming extravagant acts of generosity such as tipping a waitress $10 000 or buying a house and then selling it to a random passerby for $1, or a competition where fifty people place their hand on a Lamborghini sports car and the last to let go is allowed to keep it.
Where success arises, controversy follows and three recent videos from MrBeast have garnered criticism: giving sight to the blind, healing the deaf, and drawing water from the stone. Before your biblical imagination gets too carried away, MrBeast achieves this by paying for 1 000 cataract surgeries and 1 000 hearing aids and building 100 wells in Africa. What’s controversial about these acts of charity? The public criticism of MrBeast is not that his actions were evil, it’s because many believe that filming these good deeds for viral fame is exploitative. Is it right to raise awareness for charity whilst also raising your own profile?
This relatively minor online controversy might appear irrelevant, but it indicates YouTube has a growing cultural influence which Christians need to think about. For many believers under twenty-five years of age, YouTube is TV. It’s where they get their entertainment, news, and sports highlights. This means YouTubers, such as MrBeast, have the cultural influence that the biggest television stars and shows had in the past.[1] TikTok might get the hours of mindless scrolling, and Instagram and WhatsApp the interaction (Facebook is where my Mum posts stuff for her friends, but I mention it here out of respect for my fellow older readers). But YouTube has the generational reach. Therefore, in the great tradition of Christians strangling the life out of popular culture by over-analysing it, I present to you my Christian perspective on MrBeast.
Marking the Beast
The man behind MrBeast is creator Jimmy Donaldson. His videos are creative, often funny, and genuinely entertaining. What’s most admirable, though, is his obvious joy in giving gifts. In interviews, Donaldson describes rejecting expensive purchases for himself such as cars and mansions so that he can pour all his revenue back into more giveaways and video content. Yet it’s important we distinguish between Jimmy Donaldson himself and the MrBeast character he performs. We know from personal experience how our public face on social media is a mere reflection of the real person known by those closest to us. My reflections are not assessing the person Jimmy Donaldson but his performance as MrBeast.
There is much to celebrate about the good deeds of MrBeast. It would take a particular kind of curmudgeon to bemoan providing fresh drinking water to thousands, paying for cataract surgeries, and changing the lives of individuals with acts of kindness. He has also raised millions of dollars for healthcare and basic needs such as food and shelter through the not-for-profit Beast Philanthropy channel. Whilst other influencers build their brands off self-serving pranks and makeup tutorials, MrBeast stands out for content which serves people rather than humiliates them. I for one am thankful that Christians don’t have a monopoly on acts of kindness.
However, it’s not as if MrBeast gains nothing from these giveaways. Fame and reputation is its own currency. What he gives in cash he gets back in cachet which means his actions aren’t entirely altruistic. His gifts also contain a hidden transaction: to receive a MrBeast giveaway one must first give away their own privacy to be filmed, edited, and broadcast for the world to watch.
The primary issue for many critics, though, is not whether the deeds are good but whether MrBeast should be publicising them. When Christians do charitable acts we are warned by Jesus not to perform for the praises of people:
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1–4)
Jesus tells Christians not to advertise their own good works. This is because distinctly Christian generosity brings glory to our God rather than to ourselves. And because Christian generosity is intentionally quiet, we feel rightly uncomfortable when others promote their good deeds loudly.
However, the complicating factor in the criticism of MrBeast is that each video forms an essential part of the charitable act itself by raising awareness and funds and earning ad revenue for the charity. Is a video of MrBeast supporting an orphanage fundamentally different from Christian charities sharing stories of the impact of their work? Or a Christian missionary sending newsletters with photos of new converts to receive increased financial support?
In this, Christians would do better emulating the Apostle Paul who unapologetically used the social media of his day (i.e. writing letters) to raise charitable support (2 Cor 8:1–7) yet remained wary of seeking personal gain (1 Cor 9:13–18). On occasions when Paul required personal financial support, he emphasised that his goal was never the gift itself but the fruit of gospel-progress it enabled (Phil 4:10–17).
The Beast Within
The majority of MrBeast videos, however, aren’t paying for healthcare or feeding the homeless. The main channel is given primarily to extravagant giveaways to strangers and gameshow-like challenges to win vast amounts of cash, and it’s these episodes which are the bigger concern for Christians. If you’re anything like me, you’ll watch these kinds of videos and think, “If only I could be there winning the silver briefcase of cash then my life would be better. If only I won that Tesla I could stop driving my eight-seat soccer-mum-approved Kia with the weird squeaking the mechanics can’t fix.” When we imagine ourselves as recipients of MrBeast’s extravagant giveaways it’s unlikely we dream of giving it away, but keeping it for ourselves.
The biggest problem of MrBeast giveaways isn’t with the content itself but the discontent it creates in me. It feeds my greed in the same way as reading news articles about lottery winners. My sinful heart much prefers dreaming of winning a MrBeast challenge than pondering God’s wisdom that wealth is a trap. For “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:10).
And even if we aren’t greedy for wealth, how many Christians watching MrBeast are greedy for his kind of platform—wishing they too were famous YouTubers known for being fun and generous, even though this would entail performing for the praises of people in the exact way Jesus warns against?
You Are What You Watch
As a parent of pre-teens I’ve chosen to not let them watch MrBeast. The world already provides plenty of entertainment which prompts discussions about our values as Christians without needing to intentionally seek it out. For what it’s worth, my children don’t have access to YouTube unless we’re sparking creativity such as How to Draw, or for my embarrassing attempts at learning to dance the Charleston. When we do watch YouTube together for entertainment I prefer to choose family-friendly channels such as the Christian-without-being-overt Dude Perfect and their Australian equivalents How Ridiculous (known affectionately in my household as Dude Pretty-Good). There are better options than MrBeast.
For teenagers and discerning adults my caution is: beware of the beast within. There is significant danger that in watching MrBeast we grow in discontentment of one kind or another. We will eventually discover that a greedy heart can never be satisfied. That’s the thing about wanting more—there’s always more of it. We live in a consumerist society and no doubt part of MrBeast’s popularity is he has found a willing audience who desire to be wealthy or famous. The entertainment we choose to watch isn’t neutral, particularly now that it is fed by algorithms designed to supply more and more of what our evil heart desires.
There is a sense where you are what you watch.[2] MrBeast videos risk making us even more like the rich young ruler who interacts with Jesus in Mark 10. If you know the story, Jesus identifies that the man’s wealth has become his god and to counteract this idol of money he tells the man, “Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But tragically, “He was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions” (Mk 10:21–22). We do well to heed the warning of that encounter, that no one can have Jesus as their king if money is already ruling them. The question is, will watching MrBeast train me in generously giving gifts or in selfishly desiring more?
Be Rich in Good Works
Some Christian viewers will avoid MrBeast videos as a temptation towards greed, but others will appreciate them as a commendable example of extravagant giving. Seeing others experience the joy of giving can inspire us to do likewise (2 Cor 9:1–2). Many followers of Jesus could learn a thing or two from MrBeast about using what we have not only to give away the bare minimum but to overflow in generosity. Though more wholesome entertainment exists on YouTube, there is a dearth of relatively clean, feel-good content, with high production values, that genuinely uplifts people.
Whether you choose to watch MrBeast or not, most Christians with the time and technology to watch MrBeast are already rich by world standards. And God gives us a far more profound vision of how to use our money and how to be truly rich:
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17–19)
[1] One of the parents at our school organised a year book for the Grade 3 students and the number one answer to, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was “A YouTuber.”
[2] And for younger folk today the old maxim, ‘You will become the average of your five closest friends’’might be better re-stated as ‘You will become the average of your five most-watched YouTube channels’.
