The Bible and AI

I think we see that AI actually has an awful lot of practical applications for us in the delivery of ministry. We often get caught up, when we’re talking about technology in the church, assuming it’s only there to serve the really big organizations. But in reality, most people leading churches are doing it often on their own, supported by volunteers, and they have direct relationships with an awful lot of their congregation.
You would think that AI doesn’t have a place in that, but absolutely it can—because those are the people that need it the most. We should use all of the tools we have at our disposal. AI on its own is just a tool. It’s no different than doing a Control + F on a Word document. We should use everything available to us to live out the Great Commission more fully.
It’s these types of applications that we often overlook, but they’re the ones that bring the most burden to someone who—when they went into ministry—didn’t sign up to be a writer, a chief rotor officer, or the one having to manage all the finances and keep everything running on schedule. They were there to serve Jesus. They were there to pursue the gospel. That’s what we want to get more ministry professionals back to doing.
There are tons of AI tools out there to choose from, but whatever you choose, give it three things:
- The task you want it to accomplish.
- The personality you want it to inhabit—e.g., “be my HR assistant,” “be my personal assistant,” or “be my head of legal.”
- The context of what you’re trying to achieve.
If you do those three things when you prompt it, you’re going to get far better answers than just shooting a single line of text into one of these assistants.
I think AI can be a really helpful tool for research. For example, let’s say you want to know what three different biblical scholars say about a particular passage—you can ask ChatGPT those kinds of questions. I feel like there’s a gap between this wealth of information we have about scripture and what people can easily access, and AI has real potential to bridge that gap, giving people really good, distilled knowledge.
Just the fact that you can get an immediate answer in summary format is powerful. I can ask a question and, instead of spending hours combing through multiple volumes of books or commentaries, I can get a solid answer in moments—and even be able to point to where that answer came from.
From a pastoral perspective, something really simple is handling the large number of requests and emails that come in. Even just using something as basic as ChatGPT to refine a message—taking what you’ve already written and saying, “rewrite this”—can save a lot of time.
If pastors bring AI in to help with tasks like researching references for a sermon (not asking AI to write the sermon, but to assist in the same way an in-person assistant might), it can empower them to focus on their core calling. It’s always about empowering the human. Anytime I talk about AI or autonomy, it’s about teaming with something autonomous, not replacing the human.
If you’re not using AI, don’t do it just because someone says you should. Ask the question: Does this enhance spiritual growth in the people we’re trying to reach? Or, if we’re reaching the unchurched: Does this facilitate authentic spiritual regeneration? Don’t do AI for AI’s sake—do it because it will help you glorify God more.
I believe AI is as much a tool for us to use as it is a gift from Him—something we can pick up to help move our ministry work forward and pursue the mission we’re all on together. I’m incredibly hopeful that AI will help us do that.