Your Sermon Doesn’t Need AI
An Article at TGCC
Read the full article here. Summary below.
You should limit its use in sermon preparation for these four reasons.
1. Using GenAI is (Often) Plagiarism
Plagiarism is grounds for removal from the pastoral office. It breaks two of the Ten Commandments: stealing and coveting.
2. Using GenAI Will Stunt Your Growth
The greatest calling of the pastor is not the delivery of a sermon but the development of character.
Writing sermons forces you to consider your audience and write for them. It is an act of love.
3. Using GenAI Can Dehumanize The Church
Church gatherings are not mere content delivery mechanisms – they are the embodied proclamation of the risen Lord in a fallen world.
It is better for a pastor to be present with his people and to preach a text without elegance or extensive research than for a corner-cutting pastor to rely on technology. Some trust in chariots, others in Chatbots, but we trust in the name of the Lord (Ps. 20:7).
4. Using GenAI Can Cause Division
I anticipate that at least some church members would have issues of conscience with GenAI being used to generate content like sermon introductions, or even the discussion questions for small groups.
I don’t wholly forbid the use of Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT or Claude).
Asking ChatGPT for feedback on an already written sermon and lightly incorporating some feedback doesn’t seem to cross an ethical line. But what about an AI-generated illustration? Drafting an outline from a text? Crafting a polished conclusion? Personally, I avoid those uses for the reasons above.
No matter the tool, no matter the trend, we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to algorithms and foolishness in a technological age.
Recent podcasts I’ve produced:
Thinking About The Faith (Links: Website | Apple | Spotify):
Q18: Will God Allow Our Disobedience and Idolatry To Go Unpunished?
Q19: Is There Any Way to Escape Punishment and Be Brought Back into God’s Favor?
Q20: Who is the Redeemer?
Q21: What Sort of Redeemer is Needed to Bring Us Back to God?
Q22: Why Must the Redeemer Be Truly Human?
What Would Jesus Tech (Links: Website | Apple | Spotify | YouTube):
How AI Can Function As Idolatry
Navigating the Christian Tech World, with Cory Hixson
You Were Never Meant to Do It All, with Kelly Kapic
AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep, with Paul Hoffman
I have seen a number of articles and heard a few talks given on why using AI in sermon prep is bad. I appreciate all of them, and I agree with all that you have said here.
But what I don't think we talk enough about is the way it's helpful. I appreciate that you mentioned light editing here. In your previous article (with the slides) you mentioned Bible translation.
I often use it for alliteration. I give it my main points and ask it to make them all start with the same letter. Sermon is fully written by this point - I'm not taking any manuscript input - I just suck at alliteration. Stuff like this doesn't get talked about enough. Most of what we hear is just "don't write a sermon using AI."