5 Alarming Ways AI Could Undermine Your Ministry

As a pastor, one must study to show one's approval (2 Timothy 2:15). When AI is in the picture, the pastor's role in this regard is replaced. They chose to let AI do the work for them since it is so easy to just ask it to compose a sermon from beginning to end. It lacks a personal touch since it is all digital, much less divine, as the preacher is not crafting the sermon. 

Additionally, because it is not personal, it is not relatable. Although AI can retain and provide information, it is not a human being. It cannot feel emotions nor can it sympathize with one another. While it is great to use online tools in sermon preparation, it should solely be a means as opposed to an end. 

A pastor should sympathize with the congregation, as he is also a finite human being in need of God. The apostle Paul constantly prayed for the churches he planted, checked in on them, and even scolded them. For instance, he expressed frustration at the church of Galatia for adopting a works-based salvation from the Judaizers, completely missing the mark of justification by faith (Galatians 3:1). 

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In a similar fashion, AI is not relatable in comparison to a pastor because it can't feel nor display emotions. All AI can do is retain information and share what it has been programmed to do, but that does not mean sitting down and talking to you as a friend would in times of trouble. Meanwhile, a pastor can because he is a human being who is not without struggles. As stated in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 states: 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort, too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."

We can comfort others in their afflictions because God comforts us on our own. This is essential for preachers to understand as they are not simply orators but shepherds. You can know all the exegesis, Greek and Hebrew, but if you lack a heart for the bride of Christ, then you are not suited for ministry. Being a pastor is not just ministering from the pulpit but also ministering to the people after the service is done, calling them throughout the week, or making time to meet or visit them when needed. Now that is something AI can never do as it lacks a heart and emotions to begin with. 

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Another caution regarding pastors and artificial intelligence is the danger of an AI impersonating a well-known preacher. Sadly, this is starting to become a growing reality. In recent times, Dr. Voddie Baucham issued a report stating that someone made an account of AI voiceovers using his name.

"A fake YouTube account is also releasing heretical AI sermons using my voice, name, and likeness. Voddie Baucham World (yes, that's the name of the account) has been releasing these sermons for a few weeks now. We have had an attorney contact YouTube, but the AI space is new territory, so getting the site shut down has not been easy."

Similarly, a separate channel was created using a voiceover of John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church. The channel called John MacArthur World is a YouTube channel "dedicated to sharing the powerful, biblical teachings of John MacArthur to help you grow in faith, holiness, and obedience to God."

Both cases are troubling, as these leaders can be present in a false light, where their words are distorted into something they have never said. That is dangerous because if unchecked, there could be more AI impersonators of preachers who could deceive those listening.

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Pastors must also be cautious in AI if they end up using that in place of the Bible when it comes to crafting sermons. For instance, a website known as SermonDone was created for pastors needing AI assistance in constructing sermon outlines and even manuscripts. While I have been intrigued and commended the platform for its help, this platform, as well as other similar platforms such as ChatGPT, are never to be replacements for the Bible. It doesn't matter how much theological information it spews out or how well presented its outlines or manuscripts are; it is not God's Word lest there would be a denial of the sufficiency of Scripture. 

As the Scripture says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work."

This Scripture is a clear example of how the Word of God is sufficient for preachers and ministry. In another passage, God gives us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3), including the Word of God. Overall, AI is a tool that should never be used in place of Scripture, especially in sermon preparation. 

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Last but certainly not least, AI is not God. Ministers, let alone all Christians, should not idolize AI because it can take the place of God in one's life. After delivering the Israelites from Egypt, God told Moses at the beginning of the Ten Commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:3-4).

In both cases, God warns against idolatry, which includes images, because it replaces it above Him. As it has often been said, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Or, in another way, anything can become an idol. This not only goes for pastors but Christians as a whole. We are to use AI, but not to the point where we become more dependent upon it than God; otherwise, it becomes idolatry. 

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