AI Sermons and Bible-bots Answer the Wrong Question

Back in May, I received an email from one of the software companies my church uses that they were going to launch an "AI Sermon" tool. I made a mention of it on my Facebook that basically amounted to an eye roll and then forgot about it.

A couple months later, a friend sent me an article about a "New AI app lets users 'text' with Jesus." Around the same time, I found another article about Biblemate.io, an AI app designed for people to ask faith questions and get quick answers. My friend joked when he sent the article: "They're coming for your job."

Joking or not, there is a lot of debate happening now in our culture and in churches about AI technology, whether it's a good or bad thing, and how, if at all, it should be used. There are some solid concerns about these tools that claim to have a "biblical worldview." There are hundreds of Christian denominations in this country alone and I've never met one that doesn't claim to have a biblical worldview, but they disagree on what that means. Which parts of the Bible should be taken most seriously? Literally? Which translation? Which scholars or pastors do we trust to interpret?

But the debate over accuracy and bias is not the problem I have with a faith-based AI that answers your questions. My problem is they are trying to solve the wrong problem.

Underlying these tools and the intentions of their creators is the assumption that faith is primarily formed by knowledge. But faith is primarily formed by relationships and experiences.

Nils Gulbranson, the creator of Biblemate.io, said his goal was to create a tool that would answer the questions he had growing up. That is commendable and I think is a worthy goal, but having the answers to questions alone does not create the trust and allegiance that is a living faith, just as knowing my wife's age, name, and favorite color doesn't create the love we share.

Jesus himself often answered questions with more questions -- "Who acted as a neighbor?" or "Who do you say that I am?" -- or with parables that often raised more questions than answers. When he gave direct answers to religious leaders, it often angered or confused them instead of sparking devotion to him. And even his disciples seem confused more often than they appear knowledgeable.

(The men who opened fire on a Black church in Charleston in 2015 and a Jewish synagogue north of San Diego in 2019 were both "knowledgable" about the Bible. They had been raised and confirmed in mainline Christian churches [the former in my own, the ELCA] and they used what they "knew" to defend their hate. As James 2:19 says, "Even demons believe" God is real.)

I love questions and I love knowledge (I used to joke about becoming a professional student), but they are a part of my faith, not the source of it. My faith came about because of the people of faith who raised and shaped me, because of the love and welcome I experienced as a child in church, and because of hundreds of moments of grace and joy that drew me closer to the source of them I've come to know as God. Questions and answers have helped me make sense of these experiences and relationships, but they aren't really the foundation of it.

I'm reminded of a story that was shared with me from a summer church event at the park. People of all ages were playing games, laughing, eating, and talking to one another, when a youth (who was not from our church) said to a friend, "What is going on here?" His friend looked around and said, "This is church." That moment of confusion and wonder is the seed of faith, watered with the knowledge that what you are experiencing is God at work. 

In May, I wrote about Sermon AI: "I’ve long held that a sermon is a living thing that is much more than information. It is an invitation into the ongoing story of God and God’s people. It is a marriage proposal from God asking us to change our lives forever week after week. If I preach well, I am not the focus and I am not the 'expert', but a fellow student ... [AI] cannot be a Living Word that connects the physical and divine. It cannot proclaim with any authority 'we are trapped in sin, but God loves us anyway and wants to set you free.'”

AI tools can be useful for supporting faith, or helping someone along in faith, but they won't take my job because my job isn't really about knowledge or answering every question. My job is trying to create the experiences and relationships that lead people to WANT to ask questions in the first place. 

Or, this may all be a very long way of saying: faith isn't taught, it is caught.

From the Gray,

Pastor Ari

“Unbelievable. The gospel according to who?” -REM, “Living Well is the Best Revenge”