Songfacts®:

• "The Jesus I Know Now" finds Brandon Lake and Lainey Wilson revisiting their childhood perceptions of the Christian faith. Those early beliefs were built on a foundation of fear, rather than the compassionate, relational view they developed later in life.
  
  The song was inspired by a conversation in which Wilson told Lake: "You know, the Jesus I know now isn't really like the Jesus I grew up being taught about."
• The verses catalog a version of faith that functions more like a behavioral monitoring system than a relationship. They recount childhood teachings that portrayed Jesus as "angry" when music was played too loud, and warned that smoking, drinking, or swearing would land them on "a long black train to Hell." In contrast, the chorus describes a Jesus who isn't "shakin' a fist" or "runnin' away from a party crowd." Instead, He "hangs with the misfits, listens, forgives, then forgives again."
  
  Lake shared on Instagram following the song's release: "I hope it reminds you that, like my Momma used to tell me, 'Jesus doesn't just love you - He likes you.'"
• Lake and Wilson wrote the track with Nashville heavyweights Luke Laird and Emily Weisband during a writer's retreat. Wilson's offhand remark about her changing view of Jesus triggered a melody in Lake's mind, around which the four built out the full song.
• Since breaking through with his Hot 100 hit "Hard Fought Hallelujah," Brandon Lake has been actively building bridges between CCM and country. His "Hard Fought Hallelujah" remix with Jelly Roll won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. Other releases include the Cody Johnson collaboration "When A Cowboy Prays" and the Bailey Zimmerman hook-up "Just Believe."