Why not AI sermons? Should sermons be created with artificial intelligence? Why can’t I just go to ChatGPT and prompt it with, “Give me a three point sermon under 10 minutes on Philippians 4:4-9 for high school students.” Most people wouldn’t even notice!
Transmission versus Transformation
But before even considering AI in the mix, what is the point of preaching, teaching, and sermons? Is the point only to transmit information? Or is the point heart transformation? Therein lies the difference.
For example, I could choose to read a commentary to a congregation which would transmit a great deal of information about a biblical text but without transforming hearts and minds. Or I could give very detailed instructions about how to live one’s life, but without affecting any change. Though these are extreme examples, they illustrate the fact that God’s purpose for the preacher is not to merely transmit information from the Bible. There is a higher call–to be incarnationally present amongst his people and welcome opportunities to be formed and re-formed by God’s Word.
1. The preacher of God’s Word should be living amongst God’s people.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1–5)
This is Paul’s example of ministry. Paul is living amongst these people. And he’s not giving them necessarily lofty speech, or eloquent wisdom, but he’s just living amongst them. He’s teaching them the truth of God, and he does it in weakness. Paul makes a point to be amongst God’s people so that they can see him, and so that they can know him. This allows the people to have a particular kind of trust in God’s Word, even though Paul’s not necessarily the best preacher or speaker.
In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul tells Timothy to preach the word. That model of preaching, of being physically present, continues into today. It’s better for you to sit under the teaching of preachers and teachers in your local church, even though they might not be the most skilled compared to others you listen to online and via social media. That’s why online sermons do not cut it. You need pastors and teachers and counselors and Bible study leaders who are in your lives who you know personally. These are people who you know and they know you. You want a shepherd who walks among the sheep, who knows their burdens, wounds, and joys. Only they can help the church understand how to grow through every shared sorrow and celebration. You also know their family, you’ve seen how they live their life, and you can witness Christ in them up close so that you can follow them as they follow Christ (1Cor 11:1). That’s important. It’s a critical part of God’s means to use the local church to make disciples.
2. Faithful obedience is brought about by allowing the Word of God to work on your heart.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:11–12)
Hebrews presents a picture of the Word of God, the Bible, being a living and active weapon that works on the hearts of people. That’s why AI doesn’t cut it. AI offers up summaries and information, but does not do the work of affecting hearts. Change comes when the Word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, truly impacts you. Teachers and preachers should seek to be continuously changed and renewed by the Word of God. If I were to deliver an AI generated sermon, there’s no guarantee that I actually studied it on my own. You don’t know if the Word of God is actually impacting my heart.
But when I tell you that I studied the Word of God this week in preparation for this sermon, there’s a little more assurance and validity, that the teacher is actually trying to put in the work to allow the Word to affect his heart. And you know this is true because you see me living amongst you. You know my life, you know my wife, you know my kids. You know, my prayer requests. It’s not perfect, but it’s the model that we’ve been given by God.
No matter what new technology is introduced, nothing will ever replace sitting underneath the Word of God yourself and just allowing it to impact your heart and your mind. The preacher of God’s Word should be living amongst God’s people, living a life of faithful obedience as the Word works in his heart.
This message was originally from a Sunday School lesson at FCBC Walnut (YouTube), and has been adapted here in article form.