We Can’t Leave the Next Generation to Chance
This YouTube Superstar isn't...
I saw a fascinating video clip the other day of international superstar, MrBeast.
If you don’t know who MrBeast is, that’s okay. He was famous long before I knew who he was too. I’ll do a quick brief for everyone who is unaware.
MrBeast is a YouTube phenomenon that has amassed millions of followers across his YouTube and other platforms. He’s probably at around 500 million followers total.
He’s grown his fan base with high quality videos, radical acts of generosity with unsuspecting people, and constantly stretching the boundaries of content ideas. He once spent 7 days stranded at sea with a few of his friends, recorded it, posted it on YouTube, and the video (at the time I wrote this post) has 228 Million views.
He’s made millions, if not billions of dollars, yet spends it all on his videos and radical acts of generosity.
The clip popped up on my feed the other day and he was talking about how he’s able to accomplish as much as he has. His answer was fascinating.
“I cloned myself.”
What?
He goes on to say this…
“I'm a big fan of finding people who are just super obsessed and all in that really just want to be great, and then just dumping everything I have in them.
“For two years, [James] lived with me and we probably talked, on average of those two years, seven hours a day... like really, just training his brain to think like me,” he adds. “That way, he could just do things without my input, without me having to constantly watch over him or give him advice.
“So for the first six months, he didn't do anything. He just studied me and studied everything I cared about and how I spoke. For the next six months, he started taking on some responsibilities and now he can just run the company and I don't ever really have to check in on him.”
While the language MrBeast is using isn’t Biblical, what he’s saying is that he’s making disciples. He’s teaching people everything he knows so they can do things the way he would do them. Let’s take a look at the great commission.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
— Matthew 28:18-20
So what do we see there? If we boil it down and use the same language Mr. Beast uses, the commission is to go find people who are willing to commit to following Jesus, help them do that, and teach them everything you know.
This realization sent a thousand questions flying through my head.
Why don’t we make disciples of Jesus Christ with this much conviction, passion, and confidence?
Why don’t we intentionally invest our life into other people with the hope they will “imitate [us] as we imitate Christ?” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
What’s stopping us from being this committed to the Kingdom of God and filling the earth with people who worship God?
I hope to explore those questions one day.
For now, I have just a few thoughts.
MrBeast has grown a massive following and business on his social media platforms. It’s evident, because of his strategy of “cloning himself” that he’s not leaving that business to “chance.” He’s working hard to ensure that the business and platform remains true to his original vision long after he’s gone. The future success of his company (whether he’s there, or not) won’t be an accident.
My concern when I think about the way we operate as Christians in America is that we’re leaving the next generation to chance. We put all our eggs in the Youth & Children’s Pastor basket and hope we hire “a good one” to mentor the next generation in our church.
By and large, we “hope” something sticks with our youth at the different programs we offer them and then we frown at the statistics of those very same youth walking away from the faith in college.
But let’s reflect on this thought together: How would all of this change if we had people in our churches who taught the next generation how to read the Bible, how to pray, and how to listen to the Holy Spirit?
What if we didn’t leave them up to chance?
What if we poured our life into them and taught them everything God has taught us?
What if we viewed their future faithfulness as our today responsibility?
We can’t afford to leave the next generation to chance. Invite them into your life and teach them everything you know about following Jesus.
Have a great week.
—Brandon
Wow that MrBeast quote is wild and truly reminds me of Jesus’ model for making disciples. His twelve guys followed him around for three years and they got thousands of hours together.
This is such a good word!! This kind of life on life could be happening in church!! And how would the whole world look different if it did??
This is SO powerful! I agree that we need to be proactive in our vision, strategy, and approaches to helping out the next generation. We have learned what happens when we are reactive, passive, and simply judgmental of things before they develop. It's time for cultivating some real change.