Artificial intelligence is changing the world around us faster than most of us can process. It is showing up in our phones, workplaces, schools, homes, and even our churches. We can ask AI to write an email, summarize a book, create an image, answer a question, build a lesson, or give us a plan in seconds.
There is something remarkable about that. There is also something we need to approach with wisdom.
As Christians, our question should not simply be, “What can AI do?” We need to ask, “How should I live faithfully in a world where AI can do so much?”
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with software engineer Tony Boules on The Bible Made Real with Kathy to talk about AI, technology, truth, work, human purpose, and the Church. The more we talked, the more I became convinced that Christians do not need to respond to AI with fear or denial. But we also cannot approach it with unquestioning excitement.
We need discernment.
And discernment is not something we download. It is something we cultivate.
1. Know the difference between a tool and an authority
One of the simplest ways to begin is to decide what role AI will have in your life.
AI can be a useful tool. It can help us organize information, brainstorm ideas, explain concepts, or complete certain tasks. But a tool should never become our authority.
This is particularly important when it comes to truth, theology, morality, and spiritual questions.
AI can produce an answer without actually knowing whether that answer is true. It can sound confident while being completely wrong. It can even generate citations or information that do not exist.
So before you believe something simply because an AI system told you, stop and ask: Where did this come from? Is it true? How would I verify it?
For Christians, Scripture remains our ultimate authority. We should be people who know the Word of God well enough to recognize when something contradicts it.
“Test all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Don’t give AI the authority that belongs to God.
2. Slow down before you reach for an answer
One of the greatest temptations of AI is speed.
We have become accustomed to getting answers immediately. But some things are worth sitting with.
When you encounter a difficult question, try resisting the urge to immediately ask AI what it thinks. Think about it yourself. Pray. Open Scripture. Talk with someone you trust. Sit with the question long enough to develop your own understanding.
This matters because the process of seeking wisdom is part of how we grow.
If we constantly outsource our thinking, we may become more efficient while becoming less discerning.
Technology should assist our thinking, not replace it.
3. Don’t outsource your spiritual formation
This is especially important when it comes to our faith.
AI can write a devotional. It can summarize a Bible passage. It can create a sermon outline. It can generate discussion questions for a Bible study.
But it cannot have a relationship with Christ on your behalf.
If you use AI to help organize your thoughts, that is one thing. But if you begin allowing it to replace your prayer, Scripture reading, study, reflection, and wrestling with God, something important has been lost.
Spiritual formation cannot be microwaved.
There is no shortcut around abiding.
When God wants to form something in us, He often does it through time, obedience, repetition, suffering, waiting, repentance, and faithfulness. Those things cannot be automated.
If you are preparing to teach Scripture, start with prayer and the text itself. Read it carefully. Ask what God is saying. Wrestle with difficult passages. Consult trusted theological resources. Then, if technology can help you organize or communicate what you have learned, use it as a servant rather than a substitute.
The goal is not simply to produce biblical content. The goal is to become a person shaped by God’s Word.
4. Become harder to deceive
One of the most concerning aspects of AI is how easily it can create convincing content.
Images, videos, voices, and written material can be generated or manipulated in ways that make it increasingly difficult to know what is authentic.
That means Christians need to become people who verify before we amplify.
Before sharing a shocking story, check the source. Before reposting an emotional video, ask whether it has been verified. Before believing something because it confirms what you already think, take a step back.
We need to become comfortable saying, “I don’t know if that’s true yet.”
That may be one of the healthiest sentences we can learn to say in the digital age.
Discernment requires humility because we have to be willing to admit that we may not know everything.
5. Protect the human work God has given you
AI will continue to change the way we work. Some jobs will change dramatically, some tasks will become automated, and new kinds of work will emerge.
That can create real anxiety, especially for parents thinking about the future their children will enter.
But we need to remember that our identity was never supposed to come from our productivity.
You are not valuable because you can produce more than someone else.
You are valuable because you were created in the image of God.
So don’t let the pursuit of efficiency eliminate the very things that make your work meaningful. Creativity, craftsmanship, relationships, service, patience, compassion, leadership, and human presence still matter.
Use technology to make room for what matters most rather than using it simply to do more.
6. Stay deeply connected to the Church
Perhaps this is the practice I feel most strongly about.
If technology becomes increasingly digital, artificial, and disembodied, we need to become even more intentional about embodied Christian community.
Go to church. Pray with other people. Receive the Sacraments. Confess and repent. Study Scripture with others. Serve people face-to-face. Sit across the table from someone.
Let people know you and allow yourself to be known.
There is something profoundly beautiful about the physical and spiritual reality of the Church that technology cannot reproduce.
AI can generate words about Communion. It cannot give you Communion.
AI can explain Baptism. It cannot baptize you.
AI can produce information about repentance. It cannot repent for you.
AI can simulate a conversation about God. It cannot replace communion with God and His people.
We were not created for algorithms. We were created for communion.
7. Teach your children discernment, not just technology
Our children are going to grow up in a world where AI is simply part of everyday life. Rather than only teaching them how to use these tools, we need to teach them how to think.
Teach them that not everything they see online is true. Teach them to check sources. Teach them to work hard even when technology could do the work for them. Teach them that creating something imperfect with their own hands can be more valuable than generating something instantly.
Most importantly, teach them where their identity comes from.
Their worth does not come from their intelligence, creativity, productivity, or usefulness.
Their worth comes from being created and loved by God.
Final Encouragement
I don’t believe the Christian response to AI should be panic.
But neither should it be naïveté.
We can learn about technology without worshiping it. We can use tools without becoming dependent on them. We can appreciate innovation while remaining deeply rooted in ancient truths.
The world will continue to change. Technology will continue to advance. AI will become more capable.
But our calling has not changed.
We are still called to love God, know His Word, walk in holiness, love our neighbors, serve the Church, and make disciples.
So as you navigate this new world, ask yourself regularly: Is this technology helping me become more faithful, or is it making me less attentive to God? Is it helping me serve, or is it replacing something human that I was created to do? Is it helping me think, or am I allowing it to think for me?
We don’t need to fear the future.
But we do need to be formed deeply enough in Christ that we can walk into it without losing our way.
Stay rooted in Scripture. Stay close to the Church. Practice discernment. Protect your attention. Keep doing the hard work of becoming like Christ.
Technology will change.
Christ will not.
