Was Beatle John Lennon Pro-Christ?

According to this article, a 1969 interview with John Lennon, of the Beatles, has him saying,

If the Beatles get on the side of Christ, which they always were, and let people know that, then maybe the churches won't be full, but there'll be a lot of Christians dancing in the dance halls. Whatever they celebrate, God and Christ, I don't think it matters as long as they're aware of Him and His message.

and

... if I can turn the focus on the Beatles on to Christ's message, then that's what we're here to do.

Concerning his statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, he said his statement was misunderstood:

It's just an expression meaning the Beatles seem to me to have more influence over youth than Christ," he said. "Now I wasn't saying that was a good idea, 'cos I'm one of Christ's biggest fans."

I've never been much of a fan of the Beatles, and I don't know anything more about John Lennon and the others than what little snippets I catch from the mainstream media, but if Lennon really felt this way, and these statements are not out-of-context or an attempt at damage-control on his part, I'm very encouraged about Lennon. From what little evidence I've seen, I don't believe I would likely be persuaded that he was "a good Christian man", but I might be persuaded that he was a fallen, confused man, like us all, who perhaps had his moments of reaching out to the True One in his own broken, less-than-churchly way.