In some other recordings, the song is titled "I Was Born to Sing the Gospel". The words "I Am" or "I Was" are sometimes omitted from those titles.
The song is likely to have been written by Phillips: it is concerned with a similar subject to his 1927 song "
Denomination Blues", and has lyrical resemblances to it, including the striking phrase "educated fool". The singer compares his own experience:[4]
I am born to preach the Gospel,
And I sure do love my job...
I have never been to no college
And I didn't get a chance in school
But when Jesus Christ anointed me to preach the gospel
He sure didn't leave me no fool
with that of educated
preachers; and with that of
Nicodemus, who according to the
John 3:1-21 was a ruler of the Jews who visited Jesus by night to learn from Him.
Recordings and performances
1928 – Washington Phillips,[5][6][7][8] 78prm single Columbia 14448-D [9]