Why AI should not be used in ministry
By Lucy Aderholt · Contributing Writer
We are becoming slaves to convenience, ease and quick end results — all of which are at our fingertips with artificial intelligence (AI). I have seen these temptations bleed into many aspects of life, but most fatefully into ministry.
The people we are ministering to don’t need a perfectly worded sermon or a seemingly flawless Bible study. They need our time and effort, genuine relationships, community and most importantly, Jesus. Using AI hinders and undermines the right response to each of these needs.
Ministry is a process, not a product, and we should not use ChatGPT, Gloo AI or any other generative AI to produce ideas for a sermon, Bible study, small group or related pastoral circumstance.
Sharing the gospel is not only about the final result of someone accepting Jesus (the “end”), but also how the tools used and the road to get there (the “means”) form and teach us and help us to deepen our relationship with God through our participation in his work.
“(Jesus’) identity doesn’t reside in his capacity to perform divine functions, but in his participation in the loving life of the triune God,” English Professor Jeffrey Bilbro explained in his unreleased book, “Creaturely Intelligence.”
“The final temptation, to rule over all the kingdoms of the world merely by worshiping Satan, reinforces the deadly division the devil is trying to introduce between means and ends: Jesus is invited to get the proper and just result without the difficult and painful means. Yet the difficult and painful means are inextricable from the victory … The reign of Christ must come through his slow, personal ministry and his painful passion,” Bilbro wrote.
“For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 4:9).
We are God’s workers, and we are meant to have meaningful participation in His plan for mankind.
For example, when someone is writing a Bible study lesson well, they are spending time in the Word, praying, considering the needs of their specific audience and more. The work of the process itself is beneficial to the person giving the lesson because it cultivates and forms their mind, heart and soul. Using AI to come up with lessons or questions removes the process of spiritual formation, thus hindering one’s own faith and participation in God’s work.
Many folks think that, in terms of their means (tools and process used), they can do both — spend time in Scripture, pray, think about their lesson and also use AI, just to “make it better” or “help the process.” But instead of asking AI for help, why not ask a mentor, professor, pastor or friend? And if you never ask other people, how will you deepen your spiritual relationships?
In ministry, it is normal and expected to need help, which is why we are meant to do the work in community.
How did Jesus do his ministry? He met people, talked to them, listened to them, healed them and ate with them. The life of Jesus shows us that human relationships and connections are vital to doing ministry. When we turn to a machine for spiritual guidance, we are destroying the human connection that would otherwise be built by replacing it with a distorted substitute.
Finally, AI cannot know Jesus, and AI is not endowed with the Holy Spirit — this is uniquely human.
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
When you ask a trusted Christian friend or mentor for help, they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. So how then can we use a soulless machine to tell people about the salvation of their souls found in Jesus?
Asking a real person for help is significantly better because they can draw on their own, real experience in their faith or ministry, share wisdom, pray for you and much more.
Removing the process of ministry also harms the person receiving the lesson, as it was done by means of a destructive tool — an impersonal machine.
When writing a sermon or Bible lesson, the Holy Spirit is working inside of you, and your own faith can help give a deeper, more meaningful and more accurate lesson. When you ask ChatGPT for help, it draws on the entire internet to produce a response.
Even if the AI is programmed to give a “Christian” response, like Gloo AI claims, it still encourages Christians to distort and bypass the fundamental process and means of ministry for the obscure sake of time efficiency or progress. But are those supposed benefits worth all that is lost by using AI? Using the distorted means of AI is doing an injustice to the people you are trying to serve and minister to.
Does AI truly know the human experience? Does AI know what it feels like to go from death to life? Does AI know what it is like to see God working in your life? Can AI be formed by God’s Word and creation? Is AI made in God’s image? No. All of these are absolutely crucial aspects to doing ministry well, and just because AI exists does not mean we have to adopt it in all areas of life – and I see no place for generative AI in pastoral or ministry-related settings.
“The technologies we have are not the only option. We can build them and distribute them and implement them differently,” Bilbro said.
My goal is not to criticize, but to lead us all to reconsider, evaluate and draw boundaries around the use of AI in ministry so that we can teach, preach and share the gospel not just as an end goal, but as a redemptive process, with tools that connect rather than isolate us from God and from people.
