A framework for stewarding artificial intelligence in the local church, developed through two and a half years of practical ministry application at Ontario Community Church.
The Word of God is divinely inspired. We turn to what is God-inspired, not to what is man-made. No technology, no matter how advanced, can replace or supersede the authority of Scripture. This is the foundation upon which all other laws stand.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."
Psalm 119:105 (NIV)"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever."
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)Technology may help — it might enhance how we teach, create, and communicate the gospel. But it must never become a golden calf. We do not worship or rely on any technology to the degree that it becomes a god. Note the intentional use of "may" — it could enhance, it might, but discernment is required.
"Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold."
Exodus 20:23 (NIV)"Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them."
Jonah 2:8 (NIV)"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ."
Colossians 2:8 (NIV)Pastors, elders, deacons, and the congregation alike must proceed with discernment and caution. Not everything AI produces should be accepted. When in doubt — go to the Lord, go to the Word, go to your pastor, go to your accountability partner. Technology is a tool, and we are called to steward every tool we have been given.
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
1 John 4:1 (NIV)"The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out."
Proverbs 18:15 (NIV)"But examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good."
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NASB)A computer, much like AI, is a machine. It is created by man, not by God. A machine does not have a beating heart, nor does it have a soul that can be saved. We must understand the fundamental difference between a human and a machine. While God can use inanimate objects for His glory — as He used three pagan kings in Ezra, as the stones that would cry out — a machine cannot be saved, cannot love, and cannot replace the irreplaceable gift of human presence in ministry.
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
John 14:12 (NIV)"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."
Matthew 18:20 (NIV)"I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Luke 19:40 (NIV)"Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
Genesis 2:7 (NIV)