Sometimes, technology can produce wonders and be a massive boon to the Christian church. Roman roads allowed the spread of the gospel across the Mediterranean regions; the adoption of the printing press and its following technologies have allowed almost anyone to have access to a Bible, or any book for that matter; the Internet has connected people worldwide and allowed the news of Jesus and the kingdom of God to spread to countless individuals. Bring to mind a recent, if unlikable memory, the global pandemic and what a blessing technology was then, connecting church and family communities. I distinctly remember having a two-hour video call with our youth pastor that was a wonderful blessing.
Technology can produce wonders and be a massive boon to the Christian church.
But these technologies have also had repercussions, with some warning against the unending tide of technological progress and its negative impacts on people. Facial recognition technology is used to hunt Christians and minorities across China. Social media has allowed the spread of false information at an unprecedented pace. Smartphones have hollowed our memory capacity and destroyed our ability to learn and engage. Mental health worldwide has suffered greatly with fewer real-world, in-person connections.
Meet AI and ChatGPT
Part of this technological innovation in recent years has been the development of artificial intelligence, AI for short. Sophisticated digital programs and platforms that claim to adapt or even mimic human intelligence. It’s believed that one day the perfect AI will be able to mimic human behaviour so well we won’t be able to distinguish it from an actual human. And this raises all sorts of questions for us. But in this article I focus on AI’s impact on the church.
I want to focus on AI’s impact on the church.
ChatGPT is one of the most famous new kids on the block, when it comes to AI. It’s a web-based AI that allows users globally to feed information into it so that it can process and “learn” more about humanity and the way we write and speak and interact.
Sure, AI Can Write Your Sermons
When ChatGPT entered the game it allowed students worldwide to feed information in and have it write essays in their own style. For me this raised a new question: should pastors use it to write their sermons? What about Bible studies; or devotional materials?
The basic expectation of a pastor is to know his congregations personally.
Many would assume that the basic expectation of a pastor is to know his congregations personally. This will enable him to produce sermons relevant to their context. But what if a pastor used ChatGPT and gave it specific criteria? What if he made sure that their context or culture shaped the application? Is that sermon still a work of the pastor who chose the passage, when ChatGPT wrote the material? The same question applies to devotionals and Bible studies.
But Should It?
In a previous article I had ChatGPT write a blog post with my style. It produced an incredible facsimile of my writing. However, it wasn’t close enough. For many people pointed out that they could tell it wasn’t actually written by me. I suspect the same might be true of sermons and Bible studies. Most congregations around the world would (hopefully) pick up when something wasn’t produced by their own spiritual leadership. Maybe.
Think of the great emptying of skill and prayer if a pastor skipped all the steps of sermon writing.
More than this, think of the great emptying of skill and prayer that would happen if a pastor skipped all the steps of sermon writing. Turning to and relying on AI once can quickly turn into two more times; or five; and even into a series. Finally this will turning into a total reliance on technology for the administration of spiritual leadership. However well-meaning, such a pastor would be nothing more than an unskilled pretender, claiming another’s work as his own.
The spiritual health of local churches under this sort of leadership would undoubtedly decline. And what about the next pastor who’s trained under the guy unable to write his own sermons? This declining trajectory of talent, prayerful conviction, and pastoral care across the generations would be catastrophic for God’s Church.
ChatGPT’s Considerable Weaknesses
But there’s more. AI can’t truly converse with someone in the hospital, days away from death. Or can it? Could it be refined and reprogrammed to a point where it picks up on emotions and specific phrases and is able to respond with relevant biblical wisdom and comfort? Is that what comforts people in their dying moments? Do they want wisdom? Or do they need someone to listen and love them? Being comforted by AI in your last moments is similar to being comforted by an SMS from your close family.
AI can’t truly converse with someone in the hospital, days away from death.
What about marital counselling, grief or spiritual mentorship? A key position of biblical eldership and the role of being a pastor is comforting and shepherding. So the real question at stake here is whether AI can ultimately replace human pastors. We have already touched on the potential horrific cycle of pastors and elders that would become reliant on AI like a digital narcotic.
I think we have already covered enough concerns to answer that question in the negative. In fact, I think we could probably even get to saying that pastors should be wary of relying on AI too much for their work, even in assisting them. Although, I admit, there’s a fine line of being a grumpy curmudgeon about the ‘kids and their newfangled technology’ and being worried about pastors going from dabbling with AI to depending on it.
You Need a Committed Pastor, Not a Programmer
When prayerful work in the text is being replaced with a 20 minute session on ChatGPT tweaking references, one needs to wonder just how long that needs to happen before the pastor finds themselves unable to produce their own sermons at all? At that point, the AI may as well be the pastor of the church, making decisions based on financial input data, queries and concerns, combing through online resources to produce spiritual material to lead its flock.
