When I was a tween, I’d generally take my allowance and burn it as fast as it came in. One time this lead me to a garage sale down the street. I returned home with a seemingly innocuous board game with a big name on the box – OUIJA. My mom proceeded to tell me to get that thing out of her house and never bring it back.
To this day I have never used one, or even considered trying it out. The way it was explained to me, was that it’s a communication device. The catch – we have no way of knowing who is on the other end of the line. Satan can quote scripture like a priest. Even his demons know Jesus Christ and feared him long before I was saved.
What I mean to say is, that these things may provide answers – even accurate ones – but as they say, the devil is in the details. I wouldn’t trust it.
Even the origins of this “game” are pretty hinky. In the late 19th century, the Kennard Novelty Company came up with it. Society in that time was very spiritual, engaging with ghosts, spirits, etc was big business. Like today, the people wanted to communicate and they wanted to communicate faster. Thus Ouija was born.
How’d they get the name? They asked it. That’s right, they placed the board down, a well known “medium” (the creators sister in law) grabbed the planchette, and asked what the “game” should be called. Then they asked what the word meant… The board responded “good luck.” The rest as they say, is history.
That brings me to AI. Now do I think AI is evil? No. It is a computer program, a tool. I’ve spent quite a bit of time messing around at least with its ability to generate images, I’m still quite proud of my series of Terminator ballerinas, but I digress. Just because it is not evil, it is programmed by man, and should not be relied on when it comes to sharing the gospel.
Some time ago, I recall the pastor at my church mentioning that there are AI applications out there which can generate an actual sermon, start to finish. I’d suppose any AI from Chat GPT to Pilot, Gemini, or even Skynet could generate a sermon on the fly which could be acceptable to anyone listening who might not even be aware of the source.
The question I ask of those who preach and teach scripture though, would you pick up a Ouija board and ask it what the message should cover? I pray the answer is a resounding NO. That being said, why would anyone consider asking a machine what the teaching should cover? Whether it’s simply an outline, or a soup to nuts sermon full of fire and brimstone… NO.
Sermons should be researched by the teacher, and the first one any of us should consult is God above. We should be asked to be filled with His spirit, for guidance and wisdom in laying out anything involve sharing the scriptures. Countless other acceptable resources exist, like the teachings of pastors like Warren Wiersbe or even Chuck Smith. A computer though?
Unless we’re OK with using a Ouija board to direct us, AI should not even be on our radar.
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Jeremiah 33:3
Jeremiah isn’t quoting Chat GPT there, although I’m certain if I ask it something, it will happily tell me many things I do not know. Jeremiah was a prophet of God. He’d be no more likely to quote Chat GPT than the evil one. There is no justification here, we either follow God or the world, and AI is most decidedly a creation of the world.
End rant. God bless.