What can the world’s biggest YouTuber teach you?

As a theology graduate, former pastor and now on the staff at Moorlands College in the communications department, I am learning all I can from everywhere I can about how we can get our message across in the contemporary world. Where to turn?

Well, I have just watched a video of a car with a jet engine strapped to it. The goal is to see how many buses it will jump over. If you were one of the 47 million people who have so far watched the video you will know that this was just one of eight other equally audacious ‘experiments’ put together by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, AKA ‘Mr Beast’ (see photo). If you haven’t seen any of Jimmy’s videos before, they involve everything from subscribers competing for private islands, to creating a replica of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. As the most subscribed-to individual on YouTube, Mr Beast is redefining what the modern-day entertainer looks like.

If you were to watch one of Jimmy’s videos and not be familiar with the nuances of YouTube culture, you would be forgiven for believing that he and his friends have simply been lucky. Maybe they are, and riding a wave of momentary, viral internet hype. You would, however, be wrong. In an interview, Jimmy goes into profound depth as to how every second of his videos is carefully crafted to maximise engagement from his rapidly growing audience. Jimmy describes a day from ten years before, when he and his friends first started out: ‘We had an 18-hour Skype call. We were just tearing apart YouTube videos, studying trends.’ Can we learn from Mr Beast?

When it comes to communication in the church, many Christians would suggest that it could not be further away from this kind of engagement. But whilst Christ’s intention for the church is not for it to just entertain, I think that there are lessons that we can learn. James speaks fiercely about the consideration that we should put into what we say. James 3:5 says: ‘Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.’ How much more should we consider our approach to spreading the message of Christ? At Moorlands College, we constantly encourage students to recognise how shifting landscapes affect how we carry out our mission. Here are three lessons I think we can learn from Mr Beast.

1. The value of retention

‘It gives you everything that you need. No wasted words. Short and concise.’ That is how Jimmy describes what he looks for in every opening minute of everything that he creates. The way we begin communicating matters.

We can be guilty of this if we jump into why Jesus is the answer (which He is), but without considering what questions people are asking. The single mother on the back row might never hear my voice if it doesn’t ask the question that she is asking: ‘How am I going to afford Christmas this year?’ Or the teenager with depression and anxiety who asks: ‘How can there be a God if I can feel this much pain?’ Our message might be correct, but if we are to maintain retention, we should ask: ‘Am I connecting?’

2. Flexible approach. Orthodox belief

When Boris Johnson announced that everyone should stay at home to counter the coronavirus, I had spent half the day moving every piece of tech equipment that our church owned into my friends’ garage. His garage had been transformed into a studio which would broadcast our church services. Overnight, churches across the UK entered a streaming market previously dominated by teenagers. We realised the immense opportunity that online offered as an evangelistic and discipleship tool. We discovered that it is possible to remain orthodox in belief, but flexible in our approach.

But we quickly learnt that different online platforms are not just new places where we can do what we have always done. They are new arenas, requiring different methods, processes, and skills. Maintaining orthodoxy while operating flexibly is a challenge that is here to stay.

3. Levelling the playing field

Listen to Jimmy speak about his YouTube ambitions and you will hear how he often compares his competition to shows on Netflix. YouTube maybe his tool, but his business is attention.

Again, the church has a different mission from that of entertainers, but we have the same tools readily available to us. We have free access to the world of YouTube, podcasts, and social media streams. For all the challenges to free speech across media, we have opportunities like never before.

As Jesus says in Matthew 9:37-38: ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’

This new harvest field is plentiful and, as its workforce, we should be eager to learn the new communication techniques so as to thrive in the land of fresh opportunity. At Moorlands College we want to train a new generation of ministers faithful to the gospel but able to embrace the new technologies open to us.