Does Artificial Intelligence Have a Place in the Ministry?
In universities all over the world, academic departments are scrambling to keep up with their student body’s use of artificial intelligence. Surveys from the Digital Education Council indicate that approximately 86% of students are using AI to assist them in their studies, and 24% confess they use it daily. [1] Many educators have accepted the idea that less content is being processed directly by students, and that new forms of assessment will be necessary if there is any hope of measuring student learning. The Living Faith Bible Institute is not naive to these problems, but we believe that in a Christian school we have the right to hold the line and call our students to a higher degree of integrity and accountability. Every new applicant to the school must fill out an agreement that they will not plagiarize, either in the traditional sense of the word or through the use of artificial intelligence. We are also currently employing software that accurately estimates, sentence by sentence, the likelihood that artificial intelligence has been employed for an essay or assignment.
Despite these efforts, I do not believe we have the ability to stem the tide of what is essentially a technological and cultural revolution, a world where the collective knowledge of the internet can be disseminated and customized in seconds. Artificial intelligence is here, and it’s here to stay. Technologists expect the integration of artificial intelligence in our daily lives will increase exponentially year over year. This is the digital existence that we face, and it comes with a multitude of ethical dilemmas.
Why is this important for the church to consider? In what ways does this affect our faith? Does AI actually have implications on the spiritual growth or work of the church? While many Christians have not fully considered the ramifications of artificial intelligence, I want to warn you that it is time to begin thinking it through. As Christians, I think we are obligated to consider the philosophical implications of AI on the most important aspects of our ministry.
To help us understand the impact of artificial intelligence on our world and the people we minister to, let’s consider the words of one of the most powerful technology influencers in our world: Mark Zuckerburg, owner and creator of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and of course Meta AI. A few weeks ago, Zuckerberg appeared on Dwarkesh Podcast, hosted by Dwarkesh Patel, where they discussed the future of AI and its contemporary usefulness.
Patel asks, “People are going to have relationships with AI. How do we make sure these are healthy relationships?” Zuckerburg responds with an alarming analysis.
I do think people are going to use AI for a lot of these social tasks. Already, one of the main things we see people using Meta AI for is talking through difficult conversations they need to have with people in their lives. "I'm having this issue with my girlfriend. Help me have this conversation.” Or, "I need to have a hard conversation with my boss at work. How do I have that conversation?" That's pretty helpful. As the personalization loop kicks in and the AI starts to get to know you better and better, that will just be really compelling. [2]
Zuckerberg is telling us that many people have already gone beyond the use of AI to help write their essays; they are actually beginning to replace human authenticity with dialog that is constructed artificially. AI is now producing scripts to guide people on how to express what should be natural, the product of basic psychological development. [3] People are building relationships with and seeking counsel from AI because real relationships are toilsome—we are unlearning companionship and community. [4]
This tells us that people are struggling to function socially; they are finding it difficult to act and speak in accordance with what they know and feel. If their heart is telling them they need to have a hard conversation, or that they offended someone, or did something they recognize as objectively wrong, rather than letting their convictions produce heartfelt words, they are employing an unnatural intercessor to assist them in fabricating what should come instinctively to any adult, particularly a Christian with access to the wisdom of scripture.
This generation is foregoing the expression of genuine emotion in favor of synthetic interpretations. But this has been the trend for quite some time; as technology has turned people more and more inward, they don’t want the mess of human interaction. They prefer something cleaner, more articulate, safer, so they trade their words and thoughts for ones they borrow from AI.
I think this can be biblically contrasted with Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter seven, Paul is rejoicing because of the news that his previous letter—as full of rebuke and challenging words as it was—was received by the Corinthians with an earnest reaction.
2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Now note as he describes what we might refer to as a “Spirit-filled response” where truth and heart collide. The Corinthians model for us how one may respond when their soul is under true conviction. Pay close attention to the series of emotions and responses that were stirred in the congregation:
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, [what] clearing of yourselves, yea, [what] indignation, yea, [what] fear, yea, [what] vehement desire, yea, [what] zeal, yea, [what] revenge! In all [things] ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
There is a substantial spiritual difference between genuine conviction (“godly manner”) that produces a behavioral response, and feigned emotions, fabricated sentiments, and simulated replies intended to mitigate personal liability. Reliance on artificial intelligence assists us with antisocial behavior and advances a culture where words and feelings are hollow. As we decouple how we feel from how we engage, we weaken our capacity for objective moral reality.
What many foresee is a downward slide toward a more inauthentic human experience and dissociated lives; we are beginning to lose sight of what makes humanity unique. As the church, we must open our eyes to this strange distortion that has extreme implications for our discipleship and counseling ministries.
Another concerning trend is the use of artificial intelligence to assist in the work of everyday church ministry. The Barna Group recently did a study asking pastors, “To what degree do you feel comfortable using AI in ministry?” As you would imagine, most pastors feel comfortable using AI with administrative tasks, but many pastors are growing more and more comfortable using AI in the process of writing their sermons. According to the research, two in five (43%) pastors see AI’s value in the work of sermon preparation, such as compiling information from multiple different sources. [5]
I am prone to agree with this particular group; AI is useful at gathering and synthesizing data, but I have come to believe that it might not always be as useful as I would hope. I recently used ChatGPT while preparing a word study, giving it very specific prompts:
“Please (I always begin with please) count every instance of the English word ‘time’ in the King James Bible and create a chart that divides each usage by book.”
The initial response was inconclusive, so I turned to the deep research function. I watched as ChatGPT scoured the internet. In the right column names of theological websites and Bible resources scrolled by. After about 8 minutes it generated a very clean and organized chart and even provided a secondary chart for the number of instances the word “times” is used. As I looked it over, I realized there was a serious problem—it was incredibly inaccurate. I already knew from my own study that the English word “time” appears in the Gospel of John 17 times, but the chart told me it only appeared 9 times. I could have easily been deceived by the professionalism of the chart if I hadn’t done my own fact checking. It is in fact very common for AI outputs to be inaccurate, misleading or and even prejudicial.[6][7][8]
Recently, my friend Van Sneed (member and ministry leader at Living Faith Lee’s Summit) did his own AI experiment where he gave Google Gemini a prompt to generate a study on John 4 and the woman at the well and then asked NotebookLM to convert that content into a simulated podcast, with digital voices and everything. The entire process took him 60 seconds.
On one hand, the result was astounding. The audio file sounds just like two real people reflecting and conversing on biblical principles. But the problem became evident almost immediately: this AI-generated podcast had naturally prioritized the tonal form and style of what it imagined a Christian podcast should be, while the doctrinal substance of the passage was woefully underrepresented. The result was a caricature of a podcast that presented a watery, crowdsourced devotional presentation washed in flowery, nondescript, therapeutic language (take a listen below). [9][10]
There are a couple of conclusions we can derive from this little experiment. The first thing is that AI is only as discriminating as its prompts. This particular experiment produced a decent devotional Bible study, but it wasn’t rich doctrinally. Perhaps, with a little fine tuning, Gemini and NotebookLM could produce something more appealing to our theological appetites but herein lies the problem. AI is not inherently bound by one perspective or philosophy; it only knows what it’s prodded to know. If Van was more specific about the type of study he wanted it to produce (i.e. classically dispensational, KJV) it would adhere to that formula, but it would do the same if someone requested a study of John 4 from a Catholic, social justice oriented perspective. Because AI-generated content relies on prompts (which are susceptible to the interpretive presuppositions of the end user), the results are uniquely prone to eisegesis.
Further, this experiment reminds us that AI only experiences the Bible through the lens of the sources it employs in the task. The more layers of instruction, the more diluted the original objective might become. In this case, Gemini created a Bible study, but that Bible study took an entirely new tone, with different emphases, when we added the variable of the podcast. AI took the secondary prompt and filtered and dirtied the content in order to produce a believable aesthetic.
The fact that AI-generated podcasts lack a consistent hermeneutic should not be surprising, nor should we be shocked that relying heavily on AI for Bible study may mean using potentially unreliable data. But what is disturbing is Barna’s discovery that 1 in 10 pastors are comfortable with artificial intelligence writing their entire sermon. [11]
The crisis we face at this moment is an ontological and theological one. The question we must ask as the church is: what is our value? After all, if we can ask ChatGPT to construct our sermons, then what keeps us from letting artificial intelligence preach? What would prevent us from outsourcing our prayer? [12] Why not let it disciple? [13]
What makes the AI reliant approach to ministry fundamentally wrong? I have heard some say, “AI lacks the feeling and emotions necessary to do ministry properly.” As important as feelings are, I don’t believe that is a complete theological depiction of what satisfies the Lord about using humans to preach and teach. I have heard others say, “AI is missing the capacity for love, so it cannot be an acceptable replacement to our preaching or teaching.” I agree love is important to ministry; love for souls should compel us. But conversely, Jonah preached a pretty effective sermon without love; he might not have had the Lord’s heart, but he was obedient.
I think there's something more theologically significant at work here. I don’t believe we can have study or preaching or prayer or ministry the way God intended us to have it without the biblical elements that the work itself requires. What might those elements be? What do we need that AI could never substitute or successfully imitate?
1) Words
Your first thought might be, “What do you mean by ‘words’? AI does words—that’s literally its business.” And you’d be right. Artificial intelligence is in the business of language. It operates through complex linguistic models—like GPT-4, Gemini, and LLaMA—built to translate, summarize, answer questions, and generate text at lightning speed. In many ways, AI appears to mimic the Bible student: gathering, analyzing, and producing meaning from words. But just because both AI and ministers work with words, and organize them for understanding, does not mean they share the same hermeneutic philosophy.
The key difference lies in authority. AI is fundamentally non-discriminating. It aggregates data, compares interpretations from copious sources, and computes their averages—whether sacred, secular, orthodox, or heretical. In this way, AI resembles the textual critic: committed to analysis but indifferent to divine authorship. But the Bible-believing Christian approaches the text with reverence and faith, not neutrality. For us, the Scriptures are not merely ancient literature—they are the divinely inspired, inerrant, and living words of God. The Christian understands that careful, Spirit-led study is not just a technical task but a spiritual responsibility—one that determines whether our work is approved before God.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
When we rely on AI to interpret words that are meant to be spiritually discerned through faith, it deprives us of the richness of pursuing God through laboring in the word (1Ti 5:17) and makes us vulnerable to mishandling truth.
2) Soul
Another very important difference between what artificial intelligence can accomplish and what human-beings are capable of in ministry, resides in the existential. Current AI systems are trained to simply guess the next word in the text of its training dataset, but the Christian is soulish. The human soul is immaterial and miraculously “you.” A single soul is of more value than the whole earth (Mark 8:36-37). The soul is what distinguishes you from all other creatures and created things; it is the seat of free will, human reason and emotion.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The living soul is the gold standard of Creation; artificial intelligence is just an empty imitation. No matter how autonomous AI becomes, no matter how lifelike it appears, it is still just machinery. It will never be able to do Bible study, preaching, and teaching because these kinds of activities are reflected only within the free will and passions of the image bearer (Gen 1:26). It is this soulish striving and its subsequent “pouring out” that produces ministry that moves souls toward Jesus and no mechanism can replace what it produces.
3) Spirit
The strength of artificial intelligence lies in its speed, scope, attention span and superhuman memory—but the strength of the minister is far greater than his knowledge alone.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
The third fundamental distinction between AI and the Christian minister is the matter of inspiration. Unlike a machine, the redeemed believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God and endowed with life and power that animates our study, preaching, prayer and service to the Lord.
Job 32:8 But [there is] a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
No matter how academically thorough or eloquent AI generated content may appear, it can never have the unction and power that comes from a Spirit-filled believer (1Cor 2:13-14).
4) Body
Artificial intelligence is exceptionally impressive; each passing day it achieves some new technological feat. We are amazed at all the things it can do at speeds that human beings will never be able to match. But it’s this very difference that makes the Christian minister preferable. This may sound counterintuitive, but the last reason the human minister is superior to artificial intelligence is because of his frailty.
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
What makes weak people with messy problems more desirable to the work of the Lord? What makes slow minds and rudimentary insights preferable to cunningly curated sermons generated by AI? It’s quite simple: God wants to use our foolishness for his glory (Psa 8:2; 2Co 12:10). Our insufficiency is the beginning of his power—so embrace it rather than substitute it with artificial strength.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
I do believe that this technology has potentially valuable uses in the church; it is a tool worth learning how to leverage. But as I observe the rapid advancement of AI, I’ve come to conclude that the over-employment of artificial intelligence poses a serious threat to the ministry that God expressly entrusted to men. We must not minimize the body, soul, Spirit and words that God has given us by deferring to mechanisms that have no life, and bear no image of Christ. AI affords us access to convenient and highly customizable information, but it can never replace the work, prayer, study and preaching of a Spirit-filled Christian.
In his conversation with Patel, Zuckerberg speaks with unsettling enthusiasm about a future where technology fully merges the physical and digital worlds: “It just seems like we're at the point with technology where the physical and digital world should really be fully blended.” [14] His vision, though framed as progress, reveals a dystopian path—one that not only challenges the fabric of society, but the very soul of gospel ministry.
In such a time, our ministries are being tested. If we yield to the philosophies and innovations of this age without question or spiritual discernment, we risk trading costly truth for cheap knowledge, and real power for empty forms. The apostle Paul warned of such a day:
2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. ... 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ... 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
May we reject anything that circumvents or shortcuts the weak yet glorious servitude of the soul—our ministry requires it.
Citations:
[1] "Digital Education Council Global AI Student Survey 2024." Digital Education Council. Last modified February 13, 2025. https://www.digitaleducationcouncil.com/post/digital-education-council-global-ai-student-survey-2024
[2] Patel, Dwarkesh. "Mark Zuckerberg – Meta's AGI Plan." Dwarkesh Podcast | Dwarkesh Patel | Substack. Last modified April 29, 2025. https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/mark-zuckerberg-2
[3] Broadbear, Barbara, and James Broadbear. "Development of Conflict Resolution Skills in Infancy and Early Childhood." Illinois State University. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.fahefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/4086-13919-1-CE.pdf.
[4] Catarina de Alencar, Ana. "AI Emotional Dependency and the Quiet Erosion of Democratic Life." Tech Policy Press. Last modified May 7, 2025. https://www.techpolicy.press/ai-emotional-dependency-and-the-quiet-erosion-of-democratic-life/.
[5] "Three Takeaways on How Pastors Can Use AI." Barna Group. Last modified May 23, 2024. https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-use-ai/
[6] O'Brien, Matt. "Chatbots Sometimes Make Things Up. Is AI’s Hallucination Problem Fixable?" AP News. Last modified August 1, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-hallucination-chatbots-chatgpt-falsehoods-ac4672c5b06e6f91050aa46ee731bcf4.
[7] "When AI Gets It Wrong: Addressing AI Hallucinations and Bias." MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies. Last modified February 2, 2024. https://mitsloanedtech.mit.edu/ai/basics/addressing-ai-hallucinations-and-bias/.
[8] IV, Antonio P. "Google’s Gemini Controversy Explained: AI Model Criticized By Musk And Others Over Alleged Bias." Forbes. Last modified May 9, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/02/26/googles-gemini-controversy-explained-ai-model-criticized-by-musk-and-others-over-alleged-bias/.
[9] Text generated by Gemini, response to "You are a theologically conservative Christian who is studying John Chapter 4. Create a short devotional message that explores the main themes of passage," May 16, 2025
[10] Audio generated by NotebookLM, response to "Convert this study into a podcast" May 16, 2025,(see audio file embedded in article)
[11] "Three Takeaways on How Pastors Can Use AI." Barna Group. Last modified May 23, 2024. https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-use-ai/
[12] Giatti, Ian M. "Megachurch Pastor Previews App That Offers AI-led Prayer, Spiritual Counseling for a Fee." Christian Post | Christian News & Commentaries. Last modified December 19, 2024. https://www.christianpost.com/news/megachurch-pastor-previews-app-that-offers-ai-led-prayer-spiritu.html.
[13] Mclaren, Leio. "How AI Can Impact The Future Of Discipleship." The Lead Pastor. Accessed May 20, 2025. https://theleadpastor.com/ministry-life/ai-and-discipleship/#h-ai-adaptive-discipleship-a-new-era-of-personalized-spiritual-growth.
[14] Patel, Dwarkesh. "Mark Zuckerberg – Meta's AGI Plan." Dwarkesh Podcast | Dwarkesh Patel | Substack. Last modified April 29, 2025. https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/mark-zuckerberg-2
Brandon Briscoe is the provost of the Living Faith Bible Institute and pastor of the college and young adults ministry at Midtown Baptist Temple in Kansas City, MO.
