According to Elton John, Jesus was a gay lord. That’s what the acclaimed musician and songwriter said a few weeks ago in an upcoming US interview (sourced here).

He said to Parade magazine:

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”

Hmmm…. There are so many questions I have. No, they aren’t things like Does Jesus like show-tunes or drive a Subaru?

I’m not the kind of guy who gets enraged at statements like this. I wonder where Elton gets this. I’m sure it’s not based on his extensive seminary research or studies in church history.

There is often a temptation to personify and contextualize Jesus based on ourselves. It’s why so many American churches have portraits of Jesus as white, blond, and blue-eyed. Each ethnic group does the same thing–everyone tends to do it.

And that’s what Elton has done.

The more important question for me (as a follower of Jesus) is:

Am I like Jesus? Do I personify him?

Sure, it’s easy to throw the guy who sang the Circle of Life into the ring of fire. Or we can use the tension in our lives for something positive.

And so I wonder what Jesus would say in an interview with Parade magazine (theoretically speaking, of course), were he to describe me:

“I think Jason is a…”

What would he say about you?