“Let us use the world but enjoy the Lord.”
Thomas Adams
Our friend, Jay Higgins, has a blog on Substack. It is called Limping with Jacob. What his posts lack in frequency, they make up for in quality. Rumor has it that he is increasing the frequency of his posting, so it’s good news all around. In his latest offering, “A.I. and the Death of the Genuine,” he writes about Artificial Intelligence. The end result is a plea for Christians, all Christians, not just artists and creatives, but everyone who wants to produce good work to say “no” to using A.I. The use of this particular technology is appealing in a culture that values getting a lot done and working with increased efficiency.
I want to set aside Jay’s comparison of manuscript preaching and extemporaneous preaching with A.I. and simply discuss that the Lord is primarily concerned with making men and women of God. The Lord’s process is slow, deliberate, and ultimately effective. The use of Artificial Intelligence is a shortcut that cuts short the process by which we might be deepened in our respective fields. As pastor of The Road Church, I have never used A.I. in the writing or the researching of a sermon, or a devotional, or in any part of the work that is commonly understood to belong to the domain of pastoring. I feel especially strongly about the idea of using it for preaching or the production of a book or devotional, (to be clear, it should be rejected) etc. I feel less strongly about using it to help with the development of administrative helps. Teresa, my wife, does not currently use A.I. either with the exception of sometimes creating an image for the church newsletter. Is that a problem? Perhaps. These things require thought and reflection. Many thoughtful folks are now wrestling with these ideas and positions are currently being developed. It is not wrong to use tools to advance the gospel and to make our lives easier. That is part of being a good steward and yet doesn’t A.I. exist in a special category? Yes, I believe it does and we, as a church, should not rush to embrace it until we have carefully considered the costs of deploying it. I want to close our weekly missive with an excerpt from Jay’s post:
[W]e are to grow into our “much-ness.” God is glorified in this. But this process can’t be faked, cheated, or sped up. It takes years of pursuit, practice, and discipline. Almost without exception, no matter who you are, or what God has called you to do, the foundational thing that you will have to do for years is grow your thinking in that area. It takes mental discipline and thinking deeply through that thing, over and over again, until you have indented deep ruts into your brain on the road of that field. The beginnings of that mental discipline are painful. Like trying to learn how to get one clear note out of a flute, or wondering if you’ll ever develop calluses on your fingers and have the dexterity to change chords without pause on the guitar. But you can’t play jazz until you master the basics. AI kills that.
Let us come down on the side of caution in the use of A.I. Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
