"Genius" by Ray Comfort

It seems every year since John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980; there is either a new release of his songs or a new release of Beatles records, or a new documentary or film, in time for the commercial business of the Christmas season.  I have often thought that it seems like many non-Christians/secularists/atheists replace Christ at the Christmas season with the Beatles.

It is also a good opportunity to start with a pop culture phenomenon like John Lennon,  or the Beatles to get people's attention in conversation about deeper issues.

Here is a gospel presentation using John Lennon as a springboard/attention getter to talk about sin, the law, the human heart, people making false confessions of faith - false converts; true repentance and true faith in Christ  - very well done.  One of the best points that Ray Comfort makes is that if you come to Christ for "happiness" / solving your personal problems rather than understanding and seeing your sin as against God and that you are in need of a Savior from sin, and there is no hope of salvation from sin/guilt and hell apart from Jesus Christ Himself, then, that is the wrong reason for "accepting Christ" and probably indicates a false conversion.

But, I do think that many times, the Lord uses the emptiness and felt needs at the beginning to then get to our real need.  Jesus did that with the woman at the well in John 4, by starting with where she was in her life and the need for water and Jesus even appeals to her as having something He needs - "please give me water" - let me drink from your cup".  It is indeed tragic that John Lennon didn't see his real need for Christ and his own sins as condemning him; and that Yoko turned him away from investigating Christianity.

According to Steve Turner, in The Gospel According to the Beatles, John Lennon wrote letters to Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard (and called Pat Robertson’s 700 club) and watched them on TV a lot during those 5 years where he went into a "self-imposed in house exile" and was watching TV, cooking, and spending time with his son, Sean. (and doing Primal Scream therapy) He didn't want to make the same mistake he made with his first son Julian, (in not spending much time with him).

It seems his "Christian phrase" was just that; a phase he went through that Yoko eventually talked him out of. Obviously not a real seeking and not repentance or true faith.
Yoko did get upset and has TRIED to kept that phase of John Lennon's out of the public knowledge. 
According to Steve Turner, John wrote to and asked Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard, "will it work for me?" Can Jesus love me?" etc. 

But according to others, Yoko got so upset she turned him against that "search" and eventually Lennon did turn away, and Lennon actually made fun of Bob Dylan's "You Gotta Serve Somebody", with "serve yourself". 

The details have been coming out over the years, especially in the book, 

The Gospel According to the Beatles by Steve Turner.

Alistar Begg, a few years ago, did an interesting 4 part radio/web show with Dick Staub on the Beatles and made some application for how the church should have responded to their “cries for Help” and “search for something more”.  George Harrison admitted he was searching for something more than money and fame, and, sadly went to a form of Hinduism and Hare Krishna.  (But Harrison's other behavior seemed contradictory to a lot of those philosophies.)  

Alistar Begg's interview show with Dick Staub on the Kindling’s Muse.  Part 1, look around for parts 2-4.

He was looking for “happiness” and some way to solve his personal problems and addictions to drugs.  But Lennon also seemed to admit that he knew he was angry and that he could be real mean to people sometimes.   This “phase” was not repentance or truly seeking Christ for Himself.

John Lennon was abandoned by his father, and his mother was killed by an off-duty policeman around the time he was starting the Beatles; so John was probably the most angry at God of the four Beatles, and the one most messed up with drugs (His song, Cold Turkey, written and performed while coming off a heroine high, contains some graphic lyrics about his experience and some really scary screaming and should be enough to scare anyone from ever even trying using heroine.); but in some ways more honest and open than Paul. Paul is now really into vegetarianism and seems to think animals have souls.

I don't think John Lennon was a "genius" - he was just really gifted with a cool voice, creativity, and naturally gifted at witty lyrics and turning a phrase, and then that gift got expanded upon by his experimentation with LSD.  And teaming up with Paul McCartney also helped.