EARLIER this week, in celebration of Black History Month, the New Nation newspaper published the results of its poll for the greatest black icon of all time.

The competition was fierce, with Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela all putting in strong appearances alongside less obvious contenders such as Oprah Winfrey, the highest earning black woman of all time, and Mary Seacole, the pioneering nurse who was recently voted the greatest Black Briton.

Yet, despite the enormous achievements of each of these, none of them managed to make it to the top spot. The winner of the vote for greatest black icon of all time, who beat each of these by a country mile, was in fact Jesus Christ.

Surprised? Admittedly to some people the thought of Jesus as a black man is surprising. This is particularly the case when you consider some of the images of Jesus to be found in Christian institutions.

Earlier this week I went on a tour of Ushaw College in Durham, one of only four Roman Catholic seminaries in England. The main chapel is stunning, a place of marvellous beauty, serenity and spirituality. Yet, a glimpse at the glorious stained glass windows reveals numerous images of a Jesus whose hair is so golden that he would put to shame any self-respecting platinum blonde.

The blue-eyed, blond-haired Jesus puts in another appearance in the chapel for Anglican and Methodist students training in Durham at our own college chapel of St Mary-the-Less. The crucified Jesus pictured above the altar looks more like a man from Jesmond than Jerusalem.

There will be those who say that by depicting God in our own image we serve to bring Jesus closer to the people and, for a nation that even today remains overwhelmingly white, talk about a black Jesus should remain unheeded. And yet, in our treatment of our fellow men and women, wouldn't the image of a black Jesus assist us in our duties to treat all with decency and without prejudice?

How would the slave traders of Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol have fared if those buying their wares turned up at church each Sunday to worship a man who bore a striking resemblance to the chattel they may have purchased the previous day?

And there will be those who would argue that it doesn't matter too much what Jesus looked like. As with the meaning of his life, the question of Jesus's colour will always be a matter for personal belief and debate.

But in a world where the relationship between Christianity and Islam will become increasingly important, the identity of Jesus and what his life and death meant will become more than simply a matter of academic debate or newspaper voting.

Son of God, holy prophet or just a mouthy carpenter - whatever your belief, it matters. It may well be that in the years ahead the teachings and identity of the man from Nazareth will continue to impact on our society and our world, as faith and religion become vehicles to be hijacked in the pursuit of war and peace. In the clash of ideologies to come, Jesus matters - to people of all faiths and of none.

* Arun Arora is a former director of communications for the Bishop of Durham and is now training to be an Anglican priest at Durham University.