Teacher?
Song Meaning
Da' T.R.U.T.H. frames the whole song as a classroom, with the hook asking "Who's been teaching you / Who's been reaching you" before it is "too late." The first verse sketches a world that leaves people "empty like a vacant lot" and a Christian life lived on purpose rather than to "fit in." The second sets "Jesus Christ the assigned teacher" against "Satan the substitute" and asks who is really shaping how listeners love, live and understand manhood.
The final verse extends the school imagery with care. Students should "leave your pencil at home" because "only the blood of Jesus Christ" can erase sin, and the heart is the chalkboard where God's law is written. Enrollment is open, the "tuition is paid," and the passage from death to life is compared to "skippin' a grade."
Matthew 11:29 ("learn of me") sits behind the central invitation, Jeremiah 31:33 behind the law written on hearts, and John 5:24 behind the move from death to life. The verses stay conversational and wry while the hook keeps pressing the same question.
[Hook x2:]
Who's been teaching you
Who's been reaching you
Come on over
God's people want to speak to you
Who's been schooling you
Hope they ain't fooling you
It's too late to wait till the wake
Or the funeral
We say no to godlessness
Hasn't the grace been given
Haven't we plugged into God
Who's got major wisdom
When we pray-yeah
We pray for wisdom to make decisions
As we copy Christ like plagiarism
Blameless Christians-we weren't made to fit in
This world wasn't made to live in
It's kind of like a vacation spot-truly
Satan's plot is to fill the world with things
That leave you empty like a vacant lot
This world is cruel-thugs hate the cops
Your hate for God is why you're doing wrong
Don't try to blame your pops
You got a point-he didn't have to forsake the house
And leave you in charge when all you had
Was money from your paper route
Now you sell-thugs trying to take you out
Christ's trying to take you out
But when He speaks-it's like you duct tape His mouth
Can't fake Him out-God over Jacob's house
Come on and learn
What doin' it for Christ's sake's about
Who's been teaching you
Is it Jesus Christ the assigned teacher or Satan the substitute
Who's teaching you how to love your boo
And cultivate healthy relationships like the Huxtables
Who's teaching you purpose and life-how to submerge in the light
Going from a pervert at night to a servant of Christ and
Telling you and you and why you exist
Are they telling you how to submit to God-and do more that just honor lips
Who's teaching you
What it means to be a man
And giving you future insight
Is it the dude or the woman that's reading your hand
Or reading your palm-who's your teacher
You been reading the Psalms
Learning some hymns-learning from Him
Who brings seas to a calm
If not
Then your teacher is wrong
Come let Jesus inform you
Lest, you have an eternal reason to mourn
If not
Then your teacher is wrong
Come let Jesus inform you
Lest, you have an eternal reason to mourn
[Hook]
God wants you to learn from Him
But, leave your pencil at home
'Cause only the blood of Jesus Christ
Can erase your sin
He's the teacher
Your hearts the chalkboard
That's what His law's on
Pointing you to the cross for redemption baby
Your hearts dark-charcoal
He's scanning like barcodes
Question is will you be present
When He calls roll
'Cause if you're not next to Him
You gotta repent
He said come learn of me
That's in the context of sin
God accepted men (enroll now)
Your tuition is paid
You'll pass you from death to life
Like skippin' a grade
Why you think He let them spit in His face
And brutally murder Him
So, you and God could sit in the shade
And be cool like in the garden again
Jesus will pardon your sin
Trust me dog-Satan is hardly your friend
I write rhymes-I do my part with my pen
Eagerly anticipating glory, dog-that's when the party begins
[Hook]