Award-winning Canadian pop band Newworldson offered fans its long-awaited third national release, Rebel Transmission, on April 17. The project's debut radio single, "Learning to be the Light" has already cracked the Top 3 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart and is one of the most catchy and inspirational songs of the year. 

 

The hit song follows the success of their smash hit--and first No. 1 single--"There Is A Way" from their last album. Until the song became a listener favorite, Newworldson had always been viewed as an industry darling but far from a commercial band. It became a turning point for the band, and they began to record songs for Rebel Transmission--an expression of its gratitude to radio. 

 

With this album, Newworldson wanted to record something that was a little more produced, more polished, to bring out the vibrancy of the message. Without a doubt, they have succeeded on every level in my opinion. If you like "Learning to Be the Light," then you must get Rebel Transmission. 

 

If there's one way to best describe this great album, "God is at the center of every single one of our songs," lead singer and main songwriter Joel Parisien asserts. "The core message of the band is a message of hope, a message of surrender." 

 

For sure, this album is loaded with songs that are thoughtful, catchy, artistic and meaningful. Don't miss out on these four sons of the New World. This is a great album. I had the opportunity to interview lead singer Joel Parisen about "Learning To Be The Light."

 

 

I collaborated and wrote this song with my friend Tawgs Salter who also co-wrote "There Is A Way." I called him up and asked if we could write songs together again, and we also wrote "Today" for this album. The songs we write together have ended up as the singles. He has this amazing ability of distilling what I want to say into something with commercial appeal. That's good for our band, as we are in a season where we don't just want to make a self-indulgent album that only appeals to our artistic musical sensibilities. Our sound is all over the map and it's hard to pin us to one genre. Tawgs bring out our pop sound as a musician and collaborator and I write the lyrics. It's really interesting, as we come up with great melodies and arrangements and I labor over condensing everything I want to say in three minutes. It worked great with "There Is A Way" and that was our first song together. 

 

"Learning to Be the Light" is our second song. It's not like we wrote 10 or 12 songs; these are the first two songs and they both have a lot of substance. Our band is about being really obvious with our message. Newworldson isn't about metaphor; we're very clear and intentional with our lyrics. 

 

A guiding Scripture for our band is Matthew 5:14-16: "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." As you move forward in that chapter, that passage is about letting your light be seen by everyone around you by your workplace, your community, your family. 

 

Which Bible verses connect with the message of the song?
 

Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

 

 

You want to show the world about your relationship with Jesus and the peace that comes from that surrender. All of us as believers can feel disconnected from God's plan and carry burdens. This song is about remembering that's in the past, and live for the promise of the future and be filled with joy. 

 

Hopefully these lyrics are an encouragement for people to embody the truth and live out that joy. I tend to save a lot for second verses in many of my songs. It feels natural for me as writer to establish a relationship with a listener and then get a little heavier with them. I hope people feel that way with this song. 

 

The core of the message of this song is an expansion of the chorus--"You gave me something I want everyone to see"--where I want everyone to stand on that. Writing a song is like writing an essay. I wanted to expand on the chorus and distill the message in the second verse to letting our lives be the light of Jesus. I'm not an effective evangelist in my day to day life in how I reach people. I'm sure I shy away from too many opportunities to share the Good News with people who could benefit because I might stumble over my words. 

 

I'm very careful about not wanting to sound preachy or holier than thou, because that's not the message of Christ. It's not "straighten up and fly right and you'll earn your way to eternity." That's not the message we're supposed to sell to our neighbors. At the same time, we are commissioned by Jesus to share the Gospel with people. My words of encouragement in this song is to simplify our mode of evangelism by showing truth, light and loving people unconditionally. Rather than projecting an image of the church condemning and judging people and then accepting them once they say the sinner's prayer, Jesus was ministering to people in the darkest places. It's more important that we show Christ's love for us by loving one another.

 

 

IVP Bible commentary: "Jesus depicts His disciples' mission in stark biblical terms for the mission of Israel. God called His people to be lights to the nations. But Christians cannot be content to remain the world's light in a merely theoretical sense; they must "be what they are," letting their light shine for their Father's honor. Ministers of the Word must equip all other Christians for their ministry as lights in their various neighborhoods and occupations. While Jesus is opposed to our doing good works publicly for our own honor, He exhorts us to do those good works publicly for God's honor. This distinction exhorts us to guard the motives of our hearts and consider the effects our public activities and pronouncements have on the spread of the gospel and the honoring of God among all groups of people."

 

Something Joel and I discussed was how the core of our faith as Christians is found in John 14:6. Jesus is the only way. All roads don't lead to Heaven, despite what a secular culture tries to tell us. This is an extremely important and uplifting song. I have been singing it at the top of my lungs since I first heard the song and we all need to be bold as followers of Jesus and express that truth. 

 

It is interesting to me that someone from Canada who is experiencing government control over public expressions of Jesus is truly reaching out and expressing bold biblical truth that Jesus is the only way in his songs "There Is A Way" and "Learning To Be The Light." We all need to be unashamed of our faith in Jesus and we all need to be bold in expressing our faith. 

 

We do friends and family members who aren't believers a disservice to not fully share the Gospel. The second verse really sums up the challenge of the song: "When a heart is cold as ice, you can't melt it with advice, no one wants to listen to a list of things they shouldn't do, so I build a city on a hill, and I light a candle on the hill, knowing that You'll always be knocking at the door, Oh God I just want to love on everyone, All I have is Yours to give so let the people come." Amen! 

 

Yes, that's what we're commanded by God, and the song entertains and challenges me to think about how well I'm "learning to be the light." It is one of my selections for Song of the Year.

 

(You can watch the great music video here.)