The Gospel According to AI

Though it has been a work in progress for many years, artificial intelligence (AI) made an impressive entrance this year. The development is nothing new, but it made such an impact this year mainly because its uses became more easily accessible to the average person. Now, any person can access the unique abilities that AI offers, and it is changing how people do things, even in the church.

We cannot deny its impact as people rely upon it in various ways. Some individuals confess to using AI as a tool to help them find specific words to express a concept more precisely, summarize a lengthy quote, or find examples relevant to the topic being preached. Others, though, have made headlines for taking it further, utilizing it to compose their entire sermon. Some do this for the sake of showing how AI cannot replace the personal preparation and creation of a sermon, while others are legitimately relying upon it to save time. There is even a more recent article (which isn’t worth citing here) that profiles an individual who asked AI to generate a Bible verse and teaching that affirms the current sexual revolution agenda.

Discussing the ethics and uses of AI is far beyond the scope of this article. However, as with anything, allow me to urge you to use godly discernment in employing the uses of AI in your own life.

With that caution noted, watching how quickly people have adopted and adapted the use of artificial intelligence for their needs is fascinating, including within specific Christian disciplines. Intrigued, I did something for fun a few weeks ago as I prepared a message on hell; I asked the AI bot how it would describe hell to others. The response I got back was a bit stunning, essentially stipulating that the concept of hell is very personal and that it was best to avoid talking about it. I must give it credit . . . That response is undoubtedly in line with the world’s thinking, though it certainly is outside of a biblical worldview.

But that response led me to another question, “What is the gospel?” What I got was a 436-word reply that included ten points that talked about how to share the gospel. For the sake of your time, I don’t think it is necessary to recount the entire answer, but I do want to share two things with you: (1) a brief assessment and some thoughts about what was shared, and (2) some lessons I gained from the response.

Let me begin by saying that the points that it came up were not necessarily wrong. In some way or another, they covered some of the fundamental issues about the gospel that we would not disagree with. However, this doesn’t mean it wasn’t without problems. In its presentation, there are three primary takeaways I had:

• The gospel explanation was OK, BUT it lacked perspective: There was a clear slant in the gospel presentation it gave. The gospel offered by the AI bot was a watered-down version consistent with the world’s expectation of an emphasis on love and minimization of sin. The expectation given by the artificial intelligence bot was that in presenting the gospel, one was to leave room for tolerance, going so far as to say that it was important to “leave a person space to process the gospel in their own way.” It lacked the conviction of a biblical perspective.
• The gospel explanation was OK, BUT it lacked depth: The lack of biblical perspective means that it really lacked biblical depth. As expected in a presentation slanted towards a worldly perspective, the presentation emphasized love and minimized sin. After building a connection, introducing the gospel, and discussing God’s love and creation, the fourth step in a gospel presentation, according to AI, is to share “humanity’s brokenness.” It is here when one is supposed to share about sin, which it defines as “actions, thoughts, or attitudes that separate people from God.” Notice there is no mention of the severity of sin or that it separates humanity from God because of who He is. Without a proper depth of who God is, there can be no profound explanation about who man is. It simply lacked biblical depth.
• The gospel explanation was OK, BUT it lacked personality: Finally, despite the emphasis on being personal and building a rapport, the gospel as described by the AI bot was very impersonal. For obvious reasons, it lacked a connection to an individual because it was a general presentation. Still, even the thoughts shared seemed to lack the notion of connection with those we are presenting to as fellow beings made in God’s image.

The thing about artificial intelligence is that its response is based on how the question is worded, and you can even have it regenerate a response if you need something different. So, what you get when you ask it to share the gospel may be a bit different. However, these three assessments I came up with from the first response I received seemed to be consistent across the other responses I had generated.

In considering the above points of assessment, I think we can draw several conclusions with some practical implications for the Christian life:

1. There is no alternative to God’s plan.
2. There is no alternative to God’s people.
3. There is no alternative to God’s peace.

The Lord can operate however he pleases; in consultation with Himself, His wisdom determined the best way to reach people was by using His own people. Any substitute that strays outside of His revealed will in Scripture begins to show its own imperfections. Those imperfections were clearly manifested in the response I received from AI about sharing the gospel. We could try to use AI to share the gospel for us, but it is but a tool created by imperfect human hands, and so what it communicates is imperfect as well. That means the best way for us to make disciples is by doing it God’s way, relying upon God’s word, because only then is God’s peace genuinely manifested.

Considering the advancement and reception of artificial intelligence, I find it a curious tool. And so, I simply wanted to spend a moment to see what it would say about the gospel. It’s woefully inadequate. Hopefully, then, it causes us to recognize even more the sufficiency of God’s Word and God’s way. It reminds me of what a wondrous God we serve, to see His ways clearly stand as more perfect than any of our ways.

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