It’s been the subject of my lunchtime conversations, my students’ questions (I lecture preaching), and my congregants’ chuckles. Generative AI (hereafter, simply AI) has brought us a strange new world in which machines quite comfortably and naturally converse with us. I suspect that over time they won’t only keep doing that but in ways that feel even more natural. But what are we to do as preachers? I won’t presume to give the answers. Instead I will offer three things for you to reflect on in the realm of preparing to preach in the age of AI.
1. Remember your Congregation Throughout Preparation
The subtitle of the article (above) could easily be part of a prompt directed at your AI of choice. Perhaps you found it amusing, concerning—even saddening. Whatever your reaction, the simple truth is that AI focuses on outcomes, not processes. At your request, you’ll find that AI generates an entire sermon, article, outline—it produces a final product.
AI focuses on outcomes, not processes.
As preachers, however, we’re called to minister to a particular congregation (more on this in the next point). This is a call to Christlikeness. It’s a call to love his people as he does, both corporately and at a deeply personal, individual level. Our preaching should simultaneously speak to the congregation as a whole and individuals within it. Part of this simply means that you must remember your congregation in your sermon preparation.
But AI doesn’t know your congregation. You do. And God has called you to care for them. He’s called you to think of them and have them in mind as you prepare. You shouldn’t entrust their cares and sorrows to AI. Nor should you tack your congregation onto the end of your preparation, which is to short-change the body of Christ. Yours is the task to draw comfort from the well of the scriptures. At the very least, we must consider these things before we enthusiastically adopt this new tool.
2. Remember Who Called You to This Work: God
In Acts 6:4, the apostles dedicate themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word.” It’s tragic that these things are so tied together in the apostles’ minds yet so separate in ours. In his commentary on Acts John Stott writes, “it is noteworthy that now the Twelve have added prayer to preaching (probably meaning public as well as private intercession) in specifying the essence of the apostles’ ministry. They form a natural couple, since the ministry of the word, without prayer that the Spirit will water the seed, is unlikely to bear fruit.”
It’s tragic how separate prayer and ministry of the word are in our minds.
It is simple to make a case that it is you, pastor, who’ve been called to and approved for the ministry. Of course you may depend on the work of others: teachers, commentaries, and, not least, translators. But at the heart of your preparation is your own blood, sweat, and prayers. I doubt that any among you are depending on AI to produce sermon complete manuscripts to preach—here I will be emphatic: you should never. But perhaps you’ve ventured to ask ‘how might I approach this passage’ or ‘help me generate an outline’ or even ‘how might [insert your favourite preacher here] interpret this passage?’
We might consider such things. But if we use AI to entirely short-circuit the process of preparation—and indeed prayerful struggle with the text and God—we deprive ourselves of occasions to depend upon the wisdom of our heavenly Father. If the apostles didn’t divorce praying and preaching—for this is certainly part of the ministry of the word—we should likewise be hesitant to do so.
3. Remember That Preparation is Formative
As a lecturer, and as a student, I’m increasingly conscious that review shapes us. As a young preacher, I recall a weekly meeting with the staff at the church where I did my training, in which we would go over the sermon from the previous Sunday. These ‘preaching meetings,’ as we called them, profoundly shaped my preaching. So too did the comments of my lecturers, teachers, and mentors. Review shapes us.
Picture yourself in your study. Your sermon is ready for Sunday. Perhaps you’ve considered your congregants as you prepared, you’ve gone through the struggle, and you’ve depended on God in prayer. At this point, when your sermon is almost complete, you might lay it before the thoughtful AI reviewer before you preach. ‘Help me to be simpler in my points, clearer about the gospel, and inviting to outsiders.’ ‘Give clear suggestions where I can improve before I preach this message.’
AI tends to affirm its users rather than faithfully challenge them.
It may be that such feedback is fruitful, sharpens your teaching and preaching, and indeed helps you to grow as a preacher. Remember, though, that review is formative, and that AI tends to affirm its users rather than faithfully challenge them. Moreover, as time goes on, week in and week out, you will naturally find yourself writing and preparing in such a way as to meet the AI’s criteria. To sum up these concerns: if you take your sermons to be reviewed by AI, it will shape how you preach.
Of course, your formation matters because sermons themselves are formative for your congregation. As your congregants hear you preach and teach, they will be shaped in their own reading and understanding of God’s word. We must be mindful, then, of the influence we grant to AI to both shape us and our congregations.
Next Steps
Over the past year, TGC and others have published a swath of articles (see the links throughout) to help us navigate this new technology with real wisdom. They are biblically informed, well-reasoned, and well-written. Of course, proper approaches exist for the use AI, which are God-honouring and God-glorifying. Still, we should be skeptical of this new technology; conscious of its advantages and limitations; and most of all thoughtful and prayerful in our adoption of it. In many cases, I’m convinced, our path forward may be much simpler than our hearts may want to hear: we need to do the work, the good old-fashioned way, for the sake of Christ and his people.
