Thomas Rhett (Feat. Keith Urban, Chris Tomlin, Hillary Scott & Reba McEntire) – Be a Light

Thomas Rhett is an American Country singer and songwriter.  He is the son of another Country artist and writer, Thomas Rhett Akins Sr.  He released seven albums and two EPs, including:

• Thomas Rhett (EP, 2012)
• It Goes Like This (2013)
• Tangled Up (2015)
• Life Changes (2017)
• Center Point Road (2019)
• Country Again: Side A (2021)
• Where We Started (2022)
• Merry Christmas, Y’all (EP, 2022)
• Country Again: Side B (2023)

He received 12 awards for his work, including 1 BMI Country Award, 2 Country Music Association, 7 Academy of Country Music, 1 Billboard, and 1 iHeartRadio Music.  This includes the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, which he received during the 2020 Academy of Country Music awards.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Thomas-rhett-be-a-light-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

The entire song is a litany of proverbs that, from a secular perspective, is mostly wise advice.  This includes:

• Become a source of peace amid chaos.
• Understand that we aren’t different from each other.  In Christian circles, this is true in the sense that we were created by God and are guilty before Him.
• Become a source of positivity amid hatred.
• Seek to repay people we have wronged.
• Add value to other people’s lives.
• Actively listen.
• Remember that life is short.  We should do good with it.
• Look beyond the letter of the law to understand the spirit of the law.

However, Rhett also offers other statements that are confusing or untrue from a Christian perspective, including:

• “Just believe”.  What should we believe, and why should we believe it?
• “We were born to shine” is incorrect.  We were born to glorify God.
• We can’t win the race of life.  From the Christian perspective, this is patantly false.

The most glaring thing that stood out to me is that the Gospel is absent.  I’ll expand more upon this in section 3.  For now, I’ll just say that nothing in these lyrics stood out to me as Christ-focused.

Score: 5/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Normally, I would deduct two points to assume “You” is about God, but there’s no context in this song to do that.  Therefore, I decided to deduct two points to assume a Christian perspective throughout these lyrics.  With that in mind, most of it is a collection of good advice with Biblical support.  However, “Just Believe” is unclear, “We were born to shine” is not right, and that life is “a race that you can’t win” is incorrect.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: Insofar as it depends on us, live at peace with everyone else (Romans 12:18).

Line 2: Believe what?  Rhett is unclear.

Line 3: This is correct.  We are all created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and sinners destined for hell apart from Jesus (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Job 15:14, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and 1 John 1:8-10).

Line 4: Repeats line 1.

[Chorus]

Line 1: Matthew 5:16 tells us that Christians should let their light shine so that they can honor our Heavenly Father.

Line 2: A great example of this is Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10.  He decided to give back four times what he stole from others as his way of making right the people he wronged.  We should all do this for others, though understand that repayment does not absolve us from our guilt before God.

Line 3: That is, we were born to be a source of positive encouragement to others.  This is a great secular ideology, but in Christianity, we believe that we were born to glorify God, whether in the lake of fire (Proverbs 16:4) or heaven (Isaiah 43:7).

Line 4: Repeats line 1.

[Post-Chorus]

Line 1: Filler.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: That is, be the change that you want to see in others.  Christians do this by being salt (Matthew 5:13-16) and light (Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5-7, and 1 John 2:7-11) to others.

Line 2: This statement is supported in James 1:19.  However, bear in mind that we cannot repay God for violating His laws.  This only applies to humans wronging God’s creation, including humans, animals, and natural habitats.

Line 3: This is similar to James 4:14, though with the understanding that, for Christians, we should live it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Line 4: Repeats line 1.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1-3: This is false.  We can win the race and attain the prize, which is eternal life (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Hebrews 12:1-3).

Line 4: Repeats line 1.

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: My best guess is that this coincides with the Spirit of the Law (color), which is contrasted with the letter of the law (black and white).  We should look beyond the letter of rules, regulations, cultural norms, and God’s commands to understand why these things are in place.  This will help us become better human beings, both in Christian and secular living.

Score: 5/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

There is nothing here about Christianity, Christ, or bringing God glory.  Unbelievers will think it’s just a collection of good sayings.  Yes, almost everything stated here can be found in the Bible in some way (see section 2), but Rhett’s lyrics alone aren’t going to draw people to Jesus.  Yes, I understand God could possibly use this song to draw people to Him, and I’ve stated as much in my Evaluation Criteria page.  However, judging from the lyrics alone, there’s nothing here that will connect these sayings uniquely to Christianity.

As stated in sections 1 and 2, “Just believe”, “We were born to shine”, and life as “a race that you can’t win” are examples of bad advice for unbelievers.  We should believe in due process (that is, trust but verify), do all to glorify God, and that we can win the race of life if we follow Jesus.

Score: 3/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It’s hard to say.  It does not directly glorify God, since there’s nothing mentioned about Him throughout the lyrics.  If I had to guess, I would say furthering humanity’s goodness.  This coincides with God’s commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself”, but without God in mind.  Still, even if it was about God, the aforementioned inclear/erroneous statements adds blemish to whatever glory is still present.

Score: 4/10

Closing Comments

Thomas Rhett’s Be a Light is mostly good secular advice, but not good for furthering Christianity.  Examples of good advice include utilizing active listening skills, doing good for others, repay people we’ve wronged, bring a positive influence, and following the spirit, not the letter, of the law.  These are Biblical concepts that bring limited glory to God, chiefly, because nothing here is Christ-focused, especially for unbelievers who hear it.  Also, some of the advice Rhett offers is not good, uncluding the amigious “Just believe” and wrongful statements “We were born to shine” and life as “a race that you can’t win”.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 4.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Be a Light (listen to the song)

Artist: Thomas Rhett (Feat. Keith Urban, Chris Tomlin, Hillary Scott & Reba McEntire)

Album: Light In The Dark

Genre: Country

Release Year: 2020

Duration: 2:54

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