AI in the Church
Reflections from the Parish
This last weekend I had the privilege of leading an adult forum at St. Peter’s on a question that so many of us are asking right now: Is artificial intelligence good or bad for humanity? It was part of our “Ask a Theologian” series (something we began during the pandemic), and once again I was grateful for how much we can discover when we learn together.
I should say at the outset: I didn’t come with a technical lecture or a set of definitive answers. Instead, we approached this as Christians — bringing our faith, our questions, and our lived experiences to bear on this strange new technology.
A Poem That Wasn’t Ours — And Yet Was
I’ve been telling a story recently about the first time I encountered ChatGPT. At a clergy gathering, someone prompted it to write a poem. In seconds, it produced verses that were cheeky, personal, and oddly fitting. Our responses ranged from chuckles to uneasy silence.
The unsettling part wasn’t that a machine had written a poem. It was that it felt written for us. AI mirrored back creativity, language, and relational awareness in ways that left us wondering: what does this mean for being human?
Where AI Already Touches Our Lives
That question of humanity — what makes us human — is one of the big ones theologians love to wrestle with. It’s a favorite in science fiction, too, and it’s front and center in academic debates.
But as a theologian of everyday life, I wanted us to start closer to home. Where do we actually meet AI in our daily lives? Autocomplete when texting. Google Maps rerouting. Netflix suggestions. Alexa in the kitchen. Medical imaging. And, of course, ChatGPT itself.
Each of these encounters came with a feeling word: amazed, uneasy, curious, fearful, hopeful. Taken together, they reminded us of a simple biblical truth: technology is never neutral.
The Bible on Technology: Ambiguity and Discernment
If we think about AI as just one chapter in the long story of human making, we see that Scripture already gives us categories for discernment.
Genesis 4: Cain’s descendants forge instruments, tools, and cities. Technology is part of human vocation, yet also bound up with violence. Human creativity always carries risk.
Genesis 11: Babel’s builders use bricks and towers to “make a name for ourselves.” Here the problem isn’t the tool but the attempt to secure autonomy apart from God. Tools become idols when they replace trust.
Exodus 31: Bezalel and Oholiab are filled with the Spirit to build the tabernacle. Craft becomes worship, technology as a vessel for God’s presence. Yet those same artisan skills shaped the golden calf.
The Bible shows us that technology is neither automatically good nor automatically bad. It can be caught up in God’s purposes, or it can be twisted into idolatry. This is the core biblical witness: technology is always ambiguous.
And that ambiguity is important. It means Christians don’t need to panic about AI or romanticize it as a savior. Instead, we’re called to discern its use — to ask whether a tool helps us live faithfully with God and neighbor, or whether it pulls us away.
Naming Hopes and Concerns
When we named our own hopes and concerns about AI, the lists were long and thoughtful.
Social concerns included job loss, privacy, bias, disinformation, and environmental costs.
Religious concerns included AI in prayer or preaching, questions of authenticity, and the risk of idolatry.
In the end, our conversation echoed Scripture: technology is ambiguous. It can heal or harm, build up or tear down, draw us toward God or lead us astray.
The Church’s Work: Neither Panic nor Romanticism
My final reflection was simple: AI is best understood as a mirror. Not a monster to fear. Not a miracle to worship. But a mirror — reflecting both our creativity and our brokenness back to us.
Thin definitions of the human — reason, autonomy, intelligence — collapse when AI imitates them. The church’s task is to recover a thicker vision of humanity: embodied, relational, justice-seeking, Spirit-filled.
That also means naming the real ethical concerns:
Environmental cost → Creation care and ecological justice.
Exploitation of laborers → Human dignity and fair work.
Privacy & surveillance → Truth and transparency.
Impact on creativity → Tools should serve vocation, not erase it.
Misinformation & deception → Christian witness rooted in truth.
The theological response is not denial or despair, but discernment — testing every new tool in the light of the gospel.
So, Is AI Good or Bad?
The answer is: it depends. AI is good or bad depending on how we use it, and whether it draws us closer to or farther from our true humanity in Christ.
Our calling is not to fear mirrors, but to let them drive us deeper into what it means to be human: embodied, relational, Spirit-filled, and oriented toward God.
👋 I love leading these conversations, both in parishes and other settings. If your church, seminary, or community group is wrestling with similar questions, I’d be glad to come alongside you and help guide the discussion. Feel free to reach out!