TobyMac (Feat. Mr. Talkbox) – Feel It

For those who have been living under a rock for the past month or so, TobyMac’s son Truett died suddenly at his home in Franklin, Tennessee on Wednesday, October 23, 2019.  He was only 21 years old.  Continue to pray for the McKeehan family.

The person who requested TobyMac’s Feel It is…my Mother!  She is an avid TobyMac fan and was interested in its Biblical accuracy, knowing I would probably rip it to shreds as I had done with I Just Need U.; However, I gave Til the Day I Die a favorable score.

Hi Mom!  (I’ve always wanted to say that!)

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Tobymac-feel-it-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?

TobyMac can’t imagine having a life without “You”, living without that person. He has many reasons to believe that they comfort and heal him, that “You” is everything he needs. One such reason is that of personal feelings, changing his trajectory from brokenness to beauty and wrecked by “Your” love. He does not require proof other than to feel “You”.

According to this video, this song is a celebration of God’s love for us, that His changing us is all the evidence he needs.

There are several problems with this message:

1. Who is “You”?  There is nothing in this song that clearly identifies it as God.  While one could personally take it that way, as TobyMac probably intended, it is not implicit in the lyrics.
2. I find it odd that TobyMac claims to have a million reasons for his belief, but then tells us that he only needs feelings.  Why bother telling us that he has multiple reasons to believe if all he needs to do is feel?
3. As I will describe in more detail in section 2, feelings are not a good test for truth.  I could have a feeling that Allah took my brokenness and made me whole.  Does that make it true?  of course not!  If I am going to believe and follow “You” (Jesus or otherwise), I require evidence.  So should you.  Why should we settle for anything less?

In light of these issues, I struggle to find something good about this song without first assuming “You” is God (see section 2).  TobyMac is expressing a positive message, so I suppose I could award a few points for that.

Score: 2/10

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

In light of my comments in section 1, I will assume God as the identity of “You” and apply a two-point penalty.

With that in mind, and ignoring the Intro, I found only Verse, lines 1-3 and Pre-Chorus, lines 3 and 4 to agree with Scripture.  The rest of it is unbiblical.

[Intro]

Line 1: According to TobyMac, this pays homage to Michael Jackson’s record Off the Wall.

Lines 2-5: Introductory words that add or subtract nothing from its biblical accuracy.

[Verse]

Lines 1-3: An experiential expression describing TobyMac’s prior life without christ as a slave to sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:6, Romans 6:20-22, and 1 Corinthians 6:12).

Lines 4-7: This begs the question: what reasons does TobyMac have, that he believes God is His comfort, as Scripture describes in Psalm 23:4, Psalm 71:21, Psalm 119:50-52, Psalm 119:76, Psalm 119:82, Isaiah 51:3, Isaiah 57:18, Isaiah 61:2, Isaiah 66:13, Zechariah 1:17, Matthew 5:4, Matthew 11:28-30, and 2 Corinthians 1:3-7?  He attempts to address this in subsequent lines.

[Pre-Chorus]

Line 1 and 2: This is an argument put forth as an attempt to prove God’s existence.  We can’t see wind, but we can feel it.  In the same way, we can’t see God, but we can feel Him.  To be honest, I don’t know anyone who believes that God exists based on this argument, nor is it convincing to me.  I require evidence.

Lines 3 and 4: Apart from God, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  Other people cannot take this truth away.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-5: This is not how we know according to Scripture.  Feelings cannot tell us that God beautifies our brokenness, transforming us from dead to sins to alive in Christ (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24). We cannot trust our feelings, given our desperately wicked hearts, doing what is right in our own eyes (Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25, and Jeremiah 17:9).

How can we know that Jesus’ claims about a new covenant, His being God, and of course, saving us from our sins, are accurate?  It is primarily based on eyewitness testimony, according to Scripture (Luke 24:44-48, John 20:31, Acts 1:6-8, 1 John 5:13, and 2 Peter 1:16-21).  They were given many convincing proofs by Jesus (Acts 1:3).  It is not because they had a feeling about it.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-3: That is, God’s love caused Jesus to invade human history and do something about our sin problem (Romans 5:6-8), which separates us from God (Genesis 3:7-8, Isaiah 59:1-2, Matthew 7:23, Romans 6:23, and 2 Thessalonians 1:3-9).

Line 4: To wreck is to destroy, typically used to describe shipwrecks.  This is not a good way to describe God’s love for us.  Yes, He humbles us so that we can bear better fruit (John 15:1-10 and Hebrews 12:4-11), but destroying us?  Sorry, I cannot accept that.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

[Post-Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: Suppose I told you that a purple dragon came to this earth and died for your sins, and unless you buy some red slippers, put them on, click them three times, saying “there’s no place like home”, then you’ll end up in hell.  You asked for proof and I told you “what more do you need than to feel the purple dragon?”  Would you believe me?  Not for a second.  Not without proof.

When John the Baptist doubted Jesus, he sent some disciples to Jesus to ask Him, inquiring if He is the Expected One.  Jesus didn’t tell them to “feel it”.  He gave them evidence: “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:1-6 and Luke 7:18-23, emphasis mine).  This is why, after Jesus’ resurrection, He gave His followers “many convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3).  He didn’t want people to believe Him on blind faith.  Neither do I.

I believe that TobyMac probably had in mind the Pharisees who demand a sign from heaven as his reasoning for dismissing the demand for proof (Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 16:1-4, and Mark 8:11-21).  I get that.  However, Thomas also asked for evidence and received it ().  The difference is attitude.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Interlude]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Chorus, line 3.

[Outro]

Lines 1-4: Repeats entire Post-Bridge.

Score: 2/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Given the issues raised in section 1, and assuming this song plays outside church functions, it would be simple for an unbeliever to interpret this song as a girlfriend combined with eastern mysticism.  I wasn’t convinced that “feeling it” is good evidence for Christianity.  I don’t see why an unbeliever should fare any better.

Score: 0/10

4. What does this song glorify?

I’m not sure, but given the issues raised certainly not God!

Score: 0/10

Closing Comments

TobyMac’s Feel It causes a red palm mark to appear on my forehead.  It does not clearly identify “You” as God.  Feelings are not trustworthy as a mechanism to test truth claims.  Jesus never taught this.  He showed people who He was with evidence.  Aside from a few patches of lines that agree with the Bible (assuming “You” is God), the majority of it is unbiblical.  Unbelievers will find misinterpretation easy.

I cannot recommend this song.

Sorry Mom!

Final Score: 1/10

Artist Info

Track: Feel It (listen to the song)

Artist: TobyMac (Feat. Mr. Talkbox)

Album: This Is Not A Test

Genre: Hip Hop/Rap

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 4:39

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.