“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10
Wisdom and understanding starts with fear and knowledge of the Lord. We don’t start with our own thoughts and abilities to think or meditate. We must start with an encounter with the living God. A healthy fear, a wonderment of God’s eternal, holy character and great power, invites us to embark on this journey to wisdom.
Something like the 11th Century Archbishop of Canterbury Anselm said, "I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand." An encounter with the living God fills our hearts with awe, and with a mind renewed by Scripture and a heart desiring the wise knowledge of God and His ways, we Christians study and so we teach.
This is where my mind goes when I’m asked about the advent of the use of Artificial Intelligence by pastors and Bible teachers. All someone has to do is ask AI to write out entire sermons and lessons, sometimes in the likeness or “voice” of a famous preacher. Thus, the programming of AI pulls what other preachers and teachers have said, bypassing the hard work of study and sermon preparation, all along with the included plagiarism.
My view isn’t to fear the tool. AI isn’t the threat. The threat is the human heart. A preacher’s heart that desires performance and praise rather than to feed and nourish the hearts of the congregation is my concern. I could ask AI and then tell you the elevation of Pinnacle Mountain in Kentucky, the names of the features you can see from the top, and AI could even tell you the best time to see the sunset from the summit. But to hike the mountain, to smell the fragrance of the flowers, to experience the summit and all the overwhelming sights is a description from a personal encounter.
Paul told young pastor Timothy to guard both his life AND doctrine (I Timothy 4:16). Teachers are to obey and teach. They are not simply to preach pure doctrinal sermons, but teach truth from a life which truly encountered God. A real encounter stirs in us to hike that summit rather than simply ask AI for a fine description for us. In other words, I don’t want to describe to my flock another man’s encounter with the Lord, but to teach truth from a life as a man following Him. The people of God are fed on the Word of God who is a Spirit-filled man of God preaching in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (I Corinthians 2:4).
The danger in the advent of AI is to treat the Bible and the religion of Christ as purely about precise information and the performance rather than a heart and life devoted to God and to glorify Him.
We aren’t to just KNOW truth about Christ, but have our minds CAPTIVATED by our knowledge of Christ. And the church is to enjoy what our spiritual forefathers had in Acts 2: devoted to the teaching of Scripture and to the fellowship (the “one anothers”), and “awe came upon every soul” (Acts 2:43). That’s teachers teaching from a real encounter with the Lord.
Pastors and teachers who simply outsource the hard work of preparing to preach out to AI teach their hearers to simply acknowledge right information while their hearts are distant from God. My desire is for my hearers to encounter God and love Him, to have an awe of God which embarks on that journey to wisdom and understanding. Not just to enjoy the sermon or applaud the words, but to come to know the Lord.
If you are a preacher or Bible teacher, I encourage you to get to know Martyn Lloyd-Jones who likened preaching to “logic on fire” which aims to bring men and women into a face-to-face encounter with the living God and to manifest His glory. For the doctor, such preaching “is theology coming through a man who is on fire" (Preaching and Preachers, page 110).
Do not bypass the hard work of study or the challenge of an encounter with the living God who confronts your sins, preacher, and stirs in you a joy for His grace in the crucified and resurrected Savior. For He aims to confront the souls of your hearers through your sermons. Draw near to the Lord, do the hard work, be nourished, and feed His lambs.
Heavenly Father, You know my heart. I deeply long to see souls saved, Christians and churches healthy, glorifying Your great name. My prayer is first for those who preach and teach to do the hard work and feed Your people Your nourishing Word. I pray for those who sit under preaching to have a discerning ear, to have a concern for their own spiritual health as well as those around them. And may we rejoice when we are fed by those whom You have called to nourish Your people. Bless us, O Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
