Which of Jesus' disciples are you? I took the test

A website recently invited me to answer a bunch of questions about myself. The goal was to find out which one of Jesus' original band of disciples I most resembled.

Can't resist stuff like this -- so we gave it a try in the hopes it might be revealing.

It was a forced choice exercise, meaning there was no opportunity to write in an answer. Every question allowed nine possible responses.

Here goes.

Q: Which country would you most like to visit?

A: Scotland. (Mainly because it's my wife's favorite spot on the planet.)

Q: What color appeals to you?

A: Black. (Johnny Cash. 'Nuff said.)

Q: What word would friends use to describe you?

A: Kind. (So I've been told.)

Q: What baby animal is most appealing?

A: A human baby. (Easy choice over any baby in the animal kingdom and I've certainly baptized my share.)

Q: What random object would you pick from a list?

A: Set of keys. (Those who live with me or who've worked with me know I have a hard time holding on to mine.)

Q: What month is the most appealing?

A: October. (My birth month and for my money, the most beautiful of all the months.)

Q: What is the most appealing picture from a list?

A: Library with thousands of books. (I can't wait to get home sometimes to jump back into a novel I'm reading.)

Q: What Winter Olympics event is most appealing?

A: Curling. (I find this slow and ponderous sport to be riveting. I also enjoy chess, observing a barber cut hair and watching paint dry.)

Q: What negative adjective most applies to you?

A: Obsessive. (My first thought was that I was not the best person to answer this question. But, be that as it may, how often have I heard, "Yes, honey, I took care of it!")

Q: What picture of Jesus is the most appealing to you?

A: On the cross. (His finished work, salvation from sin, the man who knew no sin taking the weight of human sin on himself -- and then to the grave so God would remember it no more -- is an image I never tire of seeing.)

With those answers, what did Buzzfeed.com decide was the disciple I most resembled?

Matthew, the tax collector.

That gives me a bit of pause. Tax collectors, in the days of Jesus, were despised by the Jews because they were considered traitors, sellouts to Rome. And they were. Tax collectors made, by all accounts, a fine income amassing money for the Roman occupiers of Israel and paid for that prosperity by being universally reviled by those from whom taxes were gathered. A more unlikely choice to become a trusted disciple of Jesus would be hard to imagine.

Even Judas Iscariot, on paper, looked more promising at the beginning. Yet Jesus saw something in Matthew that others didn't. I certainly hope Jesus sees something in me worth keeping.

Here's what Buzzfeed.com said about those identified as a Matthew:

"You are the nerdiest person in your group of friends and you're 100 percent OK with that. People looking for you can find you in a library or with your nose in a good book. You firmly believe in the Golden Rule and go out of your way to help people, just because you can."

The aforementioned is almost certainly a much more sanguine opinion of Matthew than anyone would have given the flesh-and-blood man himself.

By the way, my children would firmly agree with the "nerd" reference.

Dr. Jeff Long, of Jackson, is executive director of the Chateau Girardeau Foundation and teaches religious studies at Southeast Missouri State University.