In a surprisingly candid interview with Focus on the Family, U2 lead singer Bono spoke of the importance of family, how he’s stayed married to his wife for 30 years and that being bold in faith is important for Christians.

Bono spoke about his faith in Christ in strong terms.

“When people say ‘Good teacher,’ ‘Prophet,’ ‘Really nice guy,’ … this is not how Jesus thought of himself,” Bono said. “So, you’re left with a challenge in that, which is either Jesus was who he said he was or a complete and utter nut case. And I believe that Jesus was, you know, the Son of God.”

Bono also spoke of the criticism he receives for being outspoken in his advocacy for the poor. He said that Jesus wasn’t very shy about speaking up for those in need.

“You’ve gotta be very careful that grace and politeness do not merge into a banality of behavior, where we’re just nice, sort of ‘death by cupcake,’” Bono said. “Politeness is, you know, is a wonderful thing. Manners are in fact, really important thing. But remember, Jesus didn’t have many manners as we now know. He just spoke straight to the situation.”

Bono also thanked the evangelical community in America for speaking up to help provide funding for HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa. He said that more than 9 million people were saved by treatments provided by the U.S.