"Hey ChatGPT, Write My Sermon"

Is Christian ministry ready for Chat-based AI?

ChatGPT is a new chat-based Artificial Intelligence developed by OpenAI. While most of us rely on Alexa or Siri to tell us the weather or sports scores, ChatGPT is a massive step forward in new directions.

We’re only starting to see the possiblities of this technology. I came across a tweet where someone used ChatGPT to make meal plans and grocery lists. Obviously, AI isn’t sound medical advice now. But it likely will be, as it integrates disciplines and inculcates itself into the fabric of human life.

So I tried something…

ChatGPT Sermons?

I gave ChatGPT the following prompt:

In less than a minute, I was given 3-5 sermons. Some were shorter. Some were longer. I got Will Smith and Justin Bieber quotes to go alongside Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther. I’ve included one of them at the bottom of this post.

Churches will no doubt see in ChatGPT a way to do ministry “better”. By this, I mean ChatGPT today can write curriculum, church blog posts, it can write transcripts to Sunday’s record sermon, and yes—it can write sermons themselves. It can and will do all of it faster than our minds can process and produce.

We might marvel at the capacity of AI to generate theological content in terms of accuracy. More than this…we should be reflecting on what it means to do theology in terms of our humanity.

Slowing Down For Critical Questions

This might sound like the ancient reaction: “new technology?! It must be feared.” We might remember the 20th century fundamentalists who swore off radio because they thought radio waves pointed to Satan as “the prince and power of the air” (Ephesians).

But no, that’s not what I’m saying. Instead, we need to see that ChatGPT offers the church new and novel ways to produce and proliferate information apart from the embodied process of learning — of silence, of community, of beauty.

The church has already uncritically adjusted itself to what Jacques Ellul calls “technique”— to a way of life and construction of a society that’s characterized by “a series of means that are established to achieve an end”.

Technique is an endless doing, more and more efficiently, rather than becoming. Ivan Illich realized this too when he said, “People need new tools to work with rather than new tools that work for them.”

And there’s nothing that characterized my time in American evangelical pastoral ministry like speed. This speed blurs the limits of being human before God and asks us to do great things for God while losing our own humanity. It’s these spaces where “losing momentum” in ministry is a death knell. Where instead of “always be closing” it’s “always be growing”. I can see how ChatGPT can serve this commitment to speed right now. But at what cost?

I remember running into another pastor at a conference. I asked him how things were going, and he rattled off how many campuses they had planted, how many leaders they made, their yearly budget, etc. But I re-asked my question: what is Jesus doing in your city? He looked at me with eyes that said, “I just told you.” That’s the problem with technique: we don’t even see how we live firmly within its horizons.

AI-Based Theology

So one concern I have is how the church will integrate this amazing capacity for knowledge production and proliferation into ministry systems that are already rendering theology in reductionistic ways, as information transfer rather than a post-script of human language applied to the divine encounter.

In his book Art+Faith, Makoto Fujimura notes the danger of reducing theology to Enlightenment categories, to systems and formulas. He points to a theology of beauty and the generative theological capacity embodied in human creativity. The reduction he warns of is exactly the form of knowledge that computer-based production renders.

Scholarship on the theological intersections of AI is well established. But how will these questions and new theological trajectories make their way into lived ecclesial spaces? These ministry spaces function at such a blazing speed that it blunts the very slowness necessary for theology to be theology.

In short, there’s no lack of critical questions regarding AI and church ministry. We’ve faced a crisis of sermon plagiarism. We’re not ready for sermons handed to us by artificial intelligence. In these spaces, it means asking questions like where is prayer in AI-generated small group studies? The question is whether the church of the frontlines (not the academy) will slow itself enough to consider what has already been lost for what it now seeks to gain by new tools.

Epilogue: A ChatGPT Sermon

Good morning, everyone! I'm so glad to see all of you here today. Before we get started with our sermon, I wanted to share a little joke with you.

Why was the math book sad?

Because it had too many problems!

Okay, I know that was a bit cheesy, but I hope it got a chuckle out of you. Now let's turn to our Bible verses for today: Romans 12:1-2. It says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

These verses are challenging us to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. That means not just going through the motions of being a Christian, but really thinking about how our actions and choices align with God's will for us. And that can be difficult, especially when we're surrounded by so many influences in the world that can pull us away from God.

One of the biggest challenges we face as Christian youth is living out our faith at school. It can be hard to stand up for what we believe in when we're surrounded by classmates who may not share our beliefs. But Romans 12:1-2 is reminding us that we don't have to conform to the patterns of the world around us. Instead, we can let God transform our minds and guide our actions, so that we can live in a way that is pleasing to Him.

That doesn't mean we have to be perfect, or that we won't ever face tough situations. But it does mean that we can trust in God to give us the strength and wisdom to make the right choices, even when it's hard. As the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

And it's not just at school where we can apply these verses. We can also use them to guide our actions at home. It's easy to get caught up in our own interests and hobbies, and forget about the needs of others. But Romans 12:1-2 is reminding us to put others first, and to consider how our choices at home can be pleasing to God. As the celebrity Justin Bieber once said, "Love God, love your family, and love others as you love yourself. That's it. That's all you need."

But ultimately, living out our faith isn't just about following a set of rules or trying to be perfect. It's about a relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ. Romans 12:1-2 is inviting us to offer our lives to God as a living sacrifice, and to trust in His plan for us. And that's the good news of the gospel - that through Jesus, we can have forgiveness for our sins and a place in God's eternal kingdom.

So let's not just go through the motions of being a Christian. Let's truly seek to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and to live out our faith in a way that is pleasing to God. May we trust in Him to guide our actions and choices, and may we always remember the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Amen.