THE BEAT by Allen Parr

YouTube Channel Review

You might think that THE BEAT by Allen Parr is a YouTube channel for a radio station or a DJ. But while Parr isn’t playing tunes for his audience, he is tuning hearts toward God.

The “BEAT” in the channel’s name is an acronym for “Biblical Encouragement and Truth,” and through weekly videos, Parr supplies those things to his subscribers.

And Parr isn’t focused on just talking about the lighter, easier or fluffier sides of Christian faith. Rather, he dives headfirst into unpacking the context and Scripture surrounding hard truths, controversial theology and complex topics. But fear not, because Parr will do it in a very loving way.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Parr unpacks many difficult concepts and passages that arise from theology and Scripture. Parr often will express the view from many perspectives before he offers his personal view on the subject, using Bible verses that support each perspective. Regardless, though Parr does share his view, he speaks with kindness and fairness on the views he doesn’t agree with (and to put that statement in perspective, Parr accurately reflected my viewpoint despite him not personally holding to it).

Parr holds a high reverence for musical worship, explaining that he sees it as “just as important as sermons.” As such, he wants all believers to deeply consider a given song’s lyrics . After all, if we are singing something that is not true about God, then are we truly praising the God of the Bible?

“Why is it that we will not sit by and accept or listen to a sermon that is theologically inaccurate, but we’ll sing a worship song that has lyrics that are theologically incorrect?” Parr says in one video.

Parr furthermore will always turn back to the Bible, using it as his ultimate lens for interpreting the subjects of his video, and he tries to interpret the text as exegetically (that is, to be faithful to the context and original meaning of the text) as possible.

“Sometimes, we’re not reading the text in its most plain sense,” Parr says. “We have to do these exegetical gymnastics to try to force the text to say what we want it to say to boost and bolster our own position. I’m not going to do that.”

Parr recently mentioned that he would be reducing his video count from two videos a week to one when he saw how the strain of the career was affecting both him and his loved ones.

Finally, Parr covers some sensitive subjects like sex and masturbation in order to guide people in the truth.

CONTENT CONCERNS

With that last point in mind, viewers should be aware that some topics are adult in nature and may not be appropriate for younger audiences. In those videos, Parr puts a disclaimer at the start and recommends that adults first watch the video before deciding whether they should let their children see it (Hey! That’s what we recommend, too!)

Viewers should likewise note that while Parr does not swear, in one video where he breaks down an album written by Beyoncé, the lyrics he analyzes appear on the screen, containing many, many vulgarities. Additionally, viewers should note that a couple portions of this video do contain brief images of the album’s cover, which shows Beyoncé in an extremely revealing outfit (the censored version is seen in the thumbnail of the video).

CHANNEL SUMMARY

The BEAT by Allen Parr is a strong, positive channel in the YouTube community and an encouragement for countless Christians within it. Parr challenges his viewers with tough questions about the Christian faith and slowly and gently walks through the issues. He’s quick to remind his viewers that he is only trying to speak from a well-rounded and biblical perspective, and he’s not afraid to admit that his interpretation might not be correct all the time. Regardless, he wants to encourage believers to get into and study the Word for themselves and find biblical pastors who will shepherd them as well.