AI and the Ministry: The Uses and Abuses of Artificial Intelligence

In my active pastoral ministry years, I labored weekly with Greek and Hebrew language studies, commentary checks and helps, and much prayer over what my congregation needed to hear from the Word of God. With a congregation under many personal trials and discouragement, I preached a sermon from Nehemiah 8:10 on the “joy of the Lord as your strength.” I recall spending much preparation time in the study of the passage and even more time asking God what He is saying to my congregation in this passage. This is the resulting outline I came up with the help of the Holy Spirit. The sermon was a Christmas message —

(1)  Get the Bigger Picture — “They translated the Book of The Law of God so the people could understand it and then explained the reading.” (Neh. 8:8) We need a right explanation of the Bible and  We need a right application of the Bible.

(2) Understand Joy. Joy is rooted in God and the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Joy is  deeper, broader, wider than “happiness.” Joy gives stability for all times — “your strength.”

(3) Serve Others out of Joy

“Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.” (Neh. 8:12)

(4) Apply to Christmas Joy vs. what the world considers as “joy”

Now, here is the note on “the joy of the Lord is your strength” from Claude.ai —

“The phrase "the joy of the Lord is your strength" is found in Nehemiah 8:10 in the Bible. This verse is part of the account where Ezra the scribe reads the Book of the Law to the people of Israel after their return from exile in Babylon. When Ezra reads the Law, the people become deeply emotional and start weeping over their disobedience and the consequences their nation had faced. However, Nehemiah, who was the governor at the time, along with Ezra and the Levites, encourage the people not to mourn but to celebrate this day as a sacred festival to the Lord.

In this context, the phrase "the joy of the Lord is your strength" carries a few important meanings:
1. Joy in the Lord: The people are exhorted to find their joy and delight in the Lord, rather than dwelling on their past failures or present circumstances. True joy comes from their relationship with God and the knowledge of His faithfulness.
2. Source of strength: The verse suggests that this joy in the Lord is not just an emotional state but a source of strength and power for the people. When they rejoice in the Lord and His goodness, they will find the strength to overcome challenges and live obediently.
3. Spiritual renewal: After years of exile and disobedience, the people needed spiritual renewal. The call to find joy in the Lord was an invitation to renew their faith, trust in God's promises, and recommit themselves to following His ways.

In essence, this phrase encourages the people to shift their focus from despair and regret to the joy and strength that comes from their relationship with God. By finding their joy in the Lord, they would be empowered to face the challenges of rebuilding their nation and living according to God's instructions.”

Sounds sermonic, doesn’t it? The AI tool gives an accurate summary of the passage in question. Indeed, one could simply “preach” the AI notes as a sermon or teaching and give little else to a congregation. This is the looming danger of AI in ministry. JP Poulter noted in the podcast that there are good preachers and bad preachers in the 17,000 English churches his organization services. Perhaps the bad preachers could use AI as their sermon material. This would be a misuse of AI, he and I believe.

Here are some biblical checks and balances on using AI in ministry preaching and teaching. First, you, not AI, are called by God to minister to your people. It is your responsibility to accurately and biblically teach and preach the Word of God, to the glory of God and the welfare of the people God has assigned to your care and oversight. This, AI cannot do. To use other writers, speakers, or AI notes requires upfront transparency before your people. Tell them where you found what you say, if it is not yours. We obviously use helps and commentaries and word studies to frame a sermon or teaching time, and it is assumed that our studies are laced with such materials. But to directly quote someone is plagiarism and stealing without giving credit to that person or organization.

Second, we need to heed the apostle Paul’s admonition that “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10:23) Yes, Paul is talking about Christian liberty and eating of food that was devoted to idols of his day, but the principle remains. What we CAN do is not always what we SHOULD do. This involves the use of AI in our churches and ministries.

Third, beware of the “Babel influence.” You do remember the construction of a tower built by early peoples to reach to heaven in Genesis 11 — “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Christopher Watkin notes in his massive study, Biblical Critical Theory: How The Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture, “rather than playing a role in God’s story (filling the earth and subduing it), these people want God to play a supporting role in their story, as the heavenly antagonist who is ultimately beholden to, or vanquished through, their heroic self-aggrandizement.” (208-9) This is sinful autonomy. This is humankind globalization of power and wealth and achievement. This is what AI could promise if misused and misapplied. We need to always see the inherent temptation in AI drawing us away from God and dependence on God.

Fourth, know the times and the promises and pitfalls of artificial intelligence. Get on ChatGPT 4 and Claude.ai and other AI tools. Find out how they work and can work for you. Use them biblically and intelligently and wisely. Be aware that your people are using AI all the time where they live and work, even if you don’t. In other words, be “smart” about AI and its growing use and influence — and keep the dependence on God strong and sure.