Lil Nas X is antagonising Christians again. But I still believe in showing him kindness

Lil Nas X’s latest music video ‘J Christ’ has been widely denounced as offensive and blasphemous by Christians. But George Luke believes the rapper is trapped between two worlds, and part of him is still drawn to the faith of his youth

Scores of saintly-looking people dressed in white - three of whom look like bad doppelgängers of Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama and Kanye West - climb a stairway to heaven, where they watch Jesus and Satan face each other off in a basketball game (Spoiler: Jesus wins, with a slam dunk that would make Michael Jordan green with envy).

Meanwhile, back on earth, a Noah figure gathers animals into an ark as news channels report on flash floods happening across the globe. Those floods eventually cover the earth - and as the survivors sail off in the ark, a Bible verse appears on screen: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Somewhere in between those two happenings, the rapper Lil Nas X hangs on a cross, a crown of thorns on his head, declaring that he’s about to make the biggest comeback since Jesus.