Elton John – Jesus was gay!

There are many errors humans have a weakness for, but I have notice two are never far away; raising ourselves to God’s position or lowering him to ours. It seems part of the sin nature is to refuse to admit God is and will always be our judge. It makes us uncomfortable, so we attempt to shift the goal posts. 

Elton John has positioned himself as the reformed rock star who now lives on the moral high ground of enlightenment. The excesses of the past are admitted, but long gone and in their place is a more introspective philosopher of modern culture.

In a recent edition entertainment magazine, Parade, Elton John makes the ridiculous claim that Jesus was gay. His full quotation is as follows;  

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead." 

Let me translate. “Jesus was just like me!”  

And what is this theory based on? Elton said it in his first two words; ‘I think’. I’m all in favour of thinking, but not this kind.  

Human reasoning

Billy Graham enjoyed quoting Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD”, especially when speaking to University students, but the remainder of that verse is important; “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” 

There’s that word again – sin. The reasoning God wants done is in the context of the Old Covenant at a particular stage of history. In the opening verses, God says through Isaiah that he is like a Father who has “nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me”.  

He is calling his children back to himself one more time. The beasts of the field even know who their masters are, but God’s own children do not. In verse nine there is the admission that if God had not kept for himself a remnant of faithful believers, Israel would have simply gone the way of Sodom and Gororrah. 

So, God’s ‘reasoning’ is akin to, ‘I appeal to you one more time not to turn away from the covenant I made with your forefathers’. And leading to verse 18 is the repeated exhortation to rid the nation of sin – all of it. And in case the people misunderstand the message, it is put in negative terms as well.  

But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 1:20) 

Human rebellion

Despite the revelation that God expected his people to regularly consider his claims on their lives, by the time we get to the New Testament, it is clear that is not enough. The problem Israel faced is the same one we face now; we are sinners and that means we have an in-built tendency to rebel against God. 

Jesus put it this way when he was speaking to Nicodemus, “the teacher of Israel”; 

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19) 

So, God does expect some kind of reasoning, some kind of thinking through the issues, but our ability to think adequately (that is, to God’s satisfaction) has been spoilt by sin. It was always that way apparently, but Israel never understood it. They did not observe the law with the eyes of faith. 

This is what Paul meant when he said to the Galatians, 

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:20) 

And again to the Galatians, 

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21) 

Human thinking

The problem can be described as corrupt reasoning, or more accurately, the inability to think without sin ruining your thoughts. ‘Pure thinking’ is impossible without God. It’s hard enough with God, but without his Holy Spirit, it is impossible. 

When Paul addressed this subject, he referred to it as futile thinking. 

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21) 

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.(Ephesians 4:17) 

To Paul, even trying it without God is a waste of time. 

Human transformation

What is required is a brain transplant of sorts. A replacement of the sin thought pattern with Godly thinking. And this, Paul says, brings us to a similar point the people of Israel faced in Isaiah’s day. 

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2) 

Through the first chapter of Isaiah, the prophet pleaded with the people not to simply offer the daily sacrifices while their hearts were not in it. These sacrifices God could not stand. They were meaningless and detestable. In that case God does not delight in the blood of bulls, lambs and goats. 

Now we discover what God does truly delight in and that is his children offering themselves as living sacrifices. Added to that is a removal from the ways of the world so that our minds too can be offered to him appropriately. You are “transformed” as your mind is “renewed”. 

Your decision

Within the Christian life there remain choices which confront us on a daily basis. These are often reduced to the so called 'moral imperatives'; things you should do because they are right in God’s eyes. 

We arrive at these decisions (e.g. what to do with our time and money) after considering the principles of God laid down in Scripture and prayerfully applying them to our lives. 

Without God’s guidance, without Scripture, without the transformation of the person, without the cleansing of the soul, without Jesus, what do you have? You have Elton John.