What MrBeast Teaches Us About Meaning, Success, and God

You're listening to the Provoke and Inspire podcast. What's up guys? This is Ben from Provoke and Inspire and I'm coming at you with a solo pod. Now, you might be wondering, didn't you just do one of these? And technically I did. But here's the deal. We have this very important, special moment coming up where all four of us, Chad, David, Luke and myself are going to be together in the flesh, which is super exciting. We're literally going to be able to reach out and high five one another. But sort of the paradox in that is that everybody's traveling at the moment. So we're unable to record this week. So here it is. You got me. But again, this is going to be short. Punchy to the point hopefully something that you can take incorporate digest and it'll help you be a faithful follower of Jesus outside of the church. So excited about this episode. What I'm going to be talking about today is something that was sparked from an interview I watched quite a while ago from Mr. Beast. Now, if you're not familiar, he's one of the biggest YouTubers, well, the biggest YouTuber on the planet. He is an entrepreneur, a philanthropist. He's incredibly influential, probably the most influential media figure in the entire country, if not planet. And he gave an interview in which, frankly, he seemed kind of confused and tired and quite disillusioned. And I remember listening to this and thinking, man, if this guy with billions of dollars, an unlimited amount of influence and power feels this way, what does that say about the rest of us? And actually, what it made me feel even more was this intense sense of responsibility that I know what's true. Right? He might have all of these things, all of these resources, but man, we as followers of Jesus know what is ultimately true. In Jesus. We have water that will actually satisfy. And as I was reflecting on that, I really did feel this idea that too much is given, much is expected. And so what I want to look at today is really what's expected of a follower of Jesus in light of what we know to be true. And I think these are going to be really important because they're crucial mind shifts that will help us not only be grateful for what Jesus has given us, but to be fruitful in light of it. So you're going to love this episode, I promise. It's short to the point and very practical. As always, this podcast is part of Steiger International, a worldwide missions organization that is reaching people all over the world. There is a brand new website that you can check out right now. Steiger. You can find out more information about who we are, but even more importantly, how you can get involved. And finally, if this podcast means something to you, would you consider sharing it with somebody else? You know, I don't want to just come on here and just always give these shameless plugs, but we want this community to grow because fundamentally, we just want to faithfully follow Jesus outside of the church. And the more of us that are in this together, spurring one another on, I think the more effective we will be in that mission. So let others know. Invite them in, and let's do this together. All right, like I said, I was watching an interview with MrBeast. It was on diary of a CEO. One of the biggest podcasts in the world. And as I was reflecting on this, I didn't feel envy of all that he had. If anything, I felt this sense of sadness for him that in light of everything he had, it still was dissatisfying and disorienting and confusing. He seemed tired. He didn't seem someone that had a foundation of understanding who he was, understanding what rest means, where purpose comes from. And like I said, in light of that, it left him feeling and seeming very frayed to me. I was thinking of the story of the servants and the master in Luke twelve forty seven and forty eight it says this the servant who knows the master's will, and does not get ready, or does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. For everyone who has been given, much, much will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. And so when I was watching and listening to this Mr. Beast interview, I felt like the servant to whom much has been given. Not because I'm rich, not because I have a huge platform, but because I have been entrusted with the truth. And if you're listening to this and you're a follower of Jesus, so have you. So the question is, what is expected of you and I? What is expected in light of this tremendous gift? Well, I want to really go over a few things. The first is gratitude. Reflecting on the situation with Mr. Beast, I didn't feel a sense of judgment against him. I didn't feel like, you know, oh, I'm better than him. I really just felt this sadness, right? Here's a guy who clearly wants to know why he's here. He wants to make the most of his life. He's doing a lot of good things, actually. But at the same time, you can definitely see and feel the lostness that he doesn't quite know what he should be doing, that he feels tired, that he's striving and restless. By contrast, I don't feel that way. I'm certainly tired at times and probably try to do too much, and life can certainly get difficult at times, but by and large, I just feel grateful because I know, at least in my heart and head, that I don't have to earn God's love. I know that my role as a branch is simply to abide. That fruitfulness actually looks like rest. It looks like trust. It looks like being faithful and staying connected to the vine. And so I think in light of this, I should feel an immense sense of gratitude. I don't think this is negotiable. I think that when we understand who Jesus is and the beautiful gift that that understanding is, it should produce gratitude in us. It is a non-negotiable discipline in the life of a follower of Jesus. And also, I just think gratitude shows that you really understand reality. You actually recognize what the goal is. You recognize what the truth is, that it is not wrapped up in all of these other things. That knowing Jesus, that having intimacy with him is truly worth more than gold. You know, I always think about that parable, the guy who finds the treasure in the field and he sells everything that he might have that feel to have that treasure. That is what it means to understand Jesus. That is what it means to understand what the truth is that it is worth more than anything in this world, and that everything else is water that will not ultimately satisfy, that only Jesus is someone that will truly and forever satisfy us. And so that should produce gratitude. You know, gratitude is so important because it reframes the things that we're going through, right? It puts our focus back on God and all that he has done. We become the kind of people that are not always focused and reflecting on what we do not have, or what is not yet fixed, or what still needs to be done. Instead, gratitude helps us realize, wow, so much good has been given to me. I better respond with a certain posture of humility and gratitude. In light of that, you know it gives you this posture of God. I owe you everything. Whatever you want from me, I will do. You know, there's three really practical aspects of gratitude that I think are worthy of reflecting on. The first is that it doesn't come naturally, right? If you're anything like me, you're not naturally grateful. And look, some people are more naturally grateful than others, but by and large, I think it comes more naturally to human beings to be ungrateful, to complain, to see what is not than to focus on the things that are. You know, there's something I've been teaching my kids lately, and of course, I'm not trying to be condescending, but it's something I really am always teaching myself. And it's really kind of an acronym or some sort of trick or tool for how my kids should respond to any situation. It's the five P's. It's pause, perspective, positivity, problem solving, patience, whatever they confront, whatever's going on around them. If they would learn first to pause, right. Don't react quickly. Don't speak quickly. Right. Nothing good ever happens when we do. The second is to reframe, right? Okay, this is big, but how big is it in light of ultimate reality of my life, of what I know to be true, of what's going on in the world. The third is positivity, right? Choose to be positive. Choose to see the good. I really think that this is in general where gratitude comes in. Right then. Be someone who goes, okay, how can I solve the problem? What is it I can do? Or what is it that God would have me do or God can do to help me attack this? And then ultimately be patient, recognizing that man life is just hard and things will always be complicated. There will always be problems. You got to be the kind of person who isn't just praying that problems would go away, but rather that you're the kind of person that can be resilient in the face of inevitable, consistent, and constant problems in this life. So that is a powerful tool that I am trying to teach my kids, and I'm trying to live out myself. One of the other aspects of gratitude is that it's a choice, right? Like anything of value in this life, it's not going to come naturally. And we have to choose. There are so many times when my mind starts to spiral and I think of all the negative, difficult things, and at that moment I just have to, like I said, pause and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not going down this road. I'm going to choose to be grateful. I'm going to choose to have a different perspective. I'm going to choose to reorient my mind and heart. And often it means I just have to start listing out the things that I'm grateful for. And like salt over ice, it begins to melt this hardened layer of grumbling and complaining, and my proper perspective begins to re-emerge. You know, this is something I've incorporated into my prayer routine, where before I begin with anything, I just stop and I begin to list out, as I said, the things that I'm grateful for. And this has been such a profound foundation that has then allowed me to pursue God and all the other aspects of prayer with the right perspective. So the first response, in light of all that has been given to us, all that has been entrusted to us is gratitude. The second is contentment. You know, our response to knowing the truth is to live accordingly. You know, the world is stuck trying to find value in all of these external things. You could feel and hear that in Mr. Beast, that he's just striving right for human praise, for success, for pleasure, for achievement, you know. And it's never enough, right? And again, I've said it before and I'll say it again. He has done some amazing things, but the fact is there is a tiredness that you can feel in him. That seems to me to be the product of trying to find satisfaction in things that can not give it. The truth is, only God can satisfy our deepest desires. That's it. There's the famous Saint Augustine line that says, thou hast made me for thyself, O Lord. My heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee. I profound I will be striving. It's like I'm on a treadmill. Going, going, going, going, not getting anywhere. And the only way off that treadmill is to recognize that only God can satisfy the deepest longings of my heart. And yet, here's the thing. We know that's true, and yet still so easily we become sucked into all of these things of the world, right? Even in ministry, we can just put spiritual language around all of these human strivings, around all of this human ambition. Right? So I do all these things. In fact, that might even be worse, right? Because it's like I'm doing these things in the name of God, and yet I'm still doing them in my own strength. In many ways, I'm still doing them for human approval, for praise, for recognition, for success and status and material gain or whatever else. We have to be so cautious that though we may know what's true, we're actually living in light of what's true. The truth should produce contentment. So the question is, how do I know if I'm content? Well, here are some important questions you can ask. Is God enough for you, even if your current circumstances would never change? If nothing about your current circumstances would change, would God be enough? Another question is do you seek God primarily for who he is or for what he gives? Right. Is God just sort of our cosmic vending machine that we just come to with our list of things that we need him to change or things that we need him to fix. Why are we coming to God? Third, do you experience peace and joy regardless of external circumstances? Right. Galatians describes one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as being peace, right? That's a gift. It's not tethered to peaceful circumstances, right? Who can't have peace when things are peaceful? Everyone can. Right? What makes it supernatural? What makes it a gift of the spirit is when you can have peace, even when things are chaotic. Even when the world is the world, right? Life is hard. You can still have that supernatural peace. Another one is do you compare yourself to others or are you satisfied with what God has given you? Is it always about that next landmark, that next destination? Well, yeah, I'll be content if I can just get there, have that, do that, achieve that, or are you content right now? And finally, do you find your identity and purpose in Christ alone? Of course, that's the most fundamental, almost seemingly rudimentary question, but yet it is so crucial. The fact of the matter is, without contentment, we will be driven by the wrong things. Human approval and worldly success. And for those that do. Tiredness is our reward. Finally, the third response to the extraordinary gift that we have in knowing Jesus is diligence, right? We should respond with diligence. While on one hand, I feel very sad about Mr. Beast's confusion and lostness, on the other hand, I'm inspired by his commitment. I mean, that dude works really, really hard, right? He's clearly trying to make a dent in this universe. Like Steve Jobs once said, he is trying to make the most of his life, and I respect that. I want the same. Now, I don't think he has the ultimate destination or transcendent purpose aligned properly. But man, he is running fast and he is trying hard. And again, he seems very tired and I think that's because he's trying to do it in his own strength. Now, by contrast, we know what's true, right? We know where satisfaction comes from. We have the plan, right? We know what we've been called to do. Make disciples of every nation. To love God. Love others, right? We've been given the mission and God Himself is empowering us and guiding us through His Spirit. We should be every bit as extreme, imbalanced, risk taking, status quo challenging, and world changing as Mr. Beast. In fact, way, way more. We should be the most intense, the most crazy. Why? Because unlike Mr. Beast, we can pursue this sort of thing from wholeness. We can do it from wholeness. It's house money. We can do it out of a place of already being loved. We can do it because we're not doing it in our strength, because we serve the God of the universe, who has unlimited power and capacity, and who promises to strongly support those whose hearts are fully his. We have nuclear power at our disposal, which means everything we do gets amplified way beyond anything that we are capable of. This should be so incredibly motivating. Think of the impact we can have. Think of the power and creativity that God offers to those who would use it for his purposes. This is an incredible reality, and we live in light of some extraordinary promises and with the support of the creator of the universe. And this should make us the most diligent, the most motivated, the hardest working. Look, I am inspired by guys like MrBeast. I love documentaries that tell of stories of athletes that worked super hard, that people that put in extraordinary amounts of effort and energy, people who are imbalanced in borderline crazy with the way that they commit to things. I am inspired by that. But at the same time, there is always this sadness that comes with it because for those who do it without God, for those that do it for selfish reasons, for those that do it for a sense of purpose, meaning and satisfaction, this is a dead end. It will not produce satisfaction. It will not produce lasting fruit. In fact, all it will ultimately produce is someone who is detached from the vine and withers and dies. And you can hear that in MrBeast, right? Someone who wants to make the most of their lives and yet does not know ultimately how to do it again. We have the truth, but too much is given. Much is expected. And what should that produce in you and I? First, it should produce gratitude, a recognition of all that God has done and a commitment to speaking that out and living in light of it. It should produce extraordinary contentment that we aren't striving like the rest of the world, because we don't have to. We have contentment, a peace, a deep and profound sense that I am already loved and therefore I have already won. And then finally, it should produce a diligence that man, life is short. The world is desperate. People need to know the truth. And who better to tell them than someone who's been given as much as me?

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