Should AI Be Allowed in the Church?

Should AI be allowed in the church? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Kim. Thank you for answering my question.

What a great question. And of course, for those of you who are not familiar, Job is one of the most tragic stories in all of Scripture. I mean, it doesn't have a happy ending, if we can say that, but the whole of the book, by and large, is tragedy, is pain.

This story is about a man who died in a church. The story begins with Job basically losing everything. And Job seems like a pretty good guy from the beginning of the book. Now, Job is a part of the wisdom literature. And what's really interesting about the book of Job, and this is one thing that I would say, is it's meant to be read alongside of all of the wisdom literature, Kim. It's interesting because in the book of Proverbs, you have those statements.

If you do this, then this is going to happen. If you pursue the Lord, if you seek the Lord, you're going to be blessed in life. You're going to be away from God, you're going to be cursed, you're going to have difficulty.

And so it could give you a really sort of simplistic view of life. And then you're confronted with other books in the wisdom literature, like the book of Job, or like the book of Ecclesiastes, where it seems like you have people who were really seeking to honor the Lord. Job is a guy who's praying for his family every day. And yet he experiences this tragic loss.

And so it really, I think, helps us to think about life with all of its complexities, and that's just getting into the world. But what do we say about the fact that the Lord allowed Satan to really afflict Job in this terrible way? I mean, his family dies, his wife is telling him to curse God because of everything that they've lost.

And Job is resolute, but even his friends don't seem to know what to say. And so what is God's purpose in all of this? And when you get to the end of the book of Job, it's really fascinating.

And I think this is instructive for us. It's not like God tells Job, Job, this is why I did all of these things. Instead, Job is confronted by the reality of the fact that he is not God.

God is God, sovereign, Lord, King. He's humbled by this truth. Job chapter 42, verse one, Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Here and I will speak. I will question you, and you make it known to me.

I heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. It seems like one of the things that happened here is Job is humbled. He's led to repentance. He has a clear vision of who God is, even clearer than he had before his trial.

And that's often, isn't this just the reality? When we go through suffering, when we go through difficulty, it can either harden our hearts or lead us into a deeper vision and understanding of who God is as we cling to him, as we're humbled by our own brokenness, by our own sin. And of course, in verses 10 and following of Job 42, the Lord restores Job's fortunes. Now, it's interesting because Job is treated as an example of perseverance in the New Testament. In James chapter 5, in particular verse 11, it says, Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

That word purpose there could also be translated end, you know, when you think of that, what I just read there from Job chapter 42. And so here's what we can say. We don't always know the why behind that question. Why does God allow this particular kind of suffering, this tragic suffering in my life? And I'm sure that there are some of you listening right now, and you've experienced Job-like things, and you just say, Lord, I don't understand why. And God doesn't always give us that answer this side of eternity. I think, you know, as we're in the presence of the Lord one day, we're going to have a much clearer understanding and vision.

But what we can know is that the Lord is compassionate and merciful, and that He is working even in the midst of these devastating things that happened to us. He is at work. He isn't absent. He hasn't abandoned us.

He didn't abandon Job. And here Job at the very end of the story says, God, I see you clearer now, and I'm humbled, you know, to the dust. I repent, Lord, in sackcloth and ashes. And so we don't always have the answer, especially in times of suffering. This is why it's important when someone near you is suffering immensely, not just to interject and step and say, well, here's why this is happening.

Sometimes we just, we lament, and we cling to the hope that we have that the Lord is bigger than our suffering, whatever that suffering may be. Great explanation. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we have a core question that really deals with this topic head on.

It's called, how can Christianity be true if God allows evil and suffering? That's one of our great core questions, which you can get absolutely free by going to our website. Here's the link.

It's corechristianity.com forward slash questions corechristianity.com forward slash questions and look for how can Christianity be true if God allows evil and suffering? Well, our phone lines are open. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can call us for the next 20 minutes or so. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. We would love to hear from you. Maybe you've got a question about a particular passage of scripture that's always kind of confused you and you'd like some clarification on that, or maybe there's something going on in your Christian life that you're struggling with and you could use prayer and some advice. Adriel would love to talk to you again.

It's 833-THE-CORE. You can also email us anytime. Here's our email address.

It's questions at corechristianity.com. Here's an email from one of our listeners named David. He says, I'm currently attending a church in northwest Florida where I would like to join the worship team. I'm a bit hesitant because occasionally they sing songs with lyrics I don't fully agree with. Think modern day worship bands like Hillsong, Elevation, and Jesus Culture. They do preach and teach the gospel at this church, but they do not always hold the same standard in their song selections.

We live in a very small town with not many options to join other congregations, and with three young kids, this church suits my family's needs the best. I'm just curious to see what your opinions are on placing myself in a position where I may be asked to lead a song with which I don't agree with. Well, first, I mean, obviously if there's music that's being sung, songs that are being sung that, you know, the lyrics contradict what the Bible teaches, then I think you couldn't in good conscience, you know, lead the congregation in something like that. We minimize a lot of times the importance of having theologically accurate worship songs. It's just sort of like, well, you know, it's mostly about our feelings and drumming up those emotions and expressing myself, you know, to God. But the fact of the matter is a lot of theology is taught through music, and this has been the case from the very beginning.

The early church really understood this, and I think it's something that we've forgotten about today. And so that's one aspect of the church's worship. And by the way, when we say the church's worship, we don't just mean that period of music during the Sunday service. I think a lot of times people confuse the worship service with just the singing. You know, if you talk to someone and they say, how's the worship at your church? You know what they mean is, you know, what's the music like? Is the singing good?

Is the band good? But the fact of the matter is it's the entire worship service. The whole thing, including the preaching and including the Lord's Supper, the prayers that are prayed and the singing, all of that is the worship. And so with regard to the singing, it's so important, I would say, that what we're communicating through song is good and true and beautiful and in line with God's word.

And when it isn't, then it just needs to be rejected. If it's not building us up in Christ, if it's not sound doctrine, then it just ought not to be tolerated. And so I would say maybe this is a conversation that you need to have with the leadership team, with the worship team, and saying, look, I'm really interested in volunteering here. But have you guys considered some of the things that are being sung and what's being taught through the lyrics, through the music? And I'm not familiar with these songs in particular that you bring up, but I do know that throughout church history, this has been a huge question.

There was a church father, Basil the Great, he's known for a work that he did on a number of different works, but he's known for one in particular on the Holy Spirit. And at the heart of that work was a debate about singing, singing to God, the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and how the church does that. And he talks about it in that work in particular, just highlighting the fact that our theology is so often shaped by our worship, by the way that we sing, by the way that we pray. We oftentimes, I think as Christians, just assume, well, we worship the way that we do because of what we believe.

But it goes both ways. Actually, our worship, how we worship God, how we approach him, what we sing about him, the way we pray, that's shaping our belief. That's shaping us theologically as well.

And so I think you have to at least have a conversation about this. And I would never encourage you to do something that was against your conscience just because the Bible says that's a sin. But additionally, if it has to do with worship and what's being taught through the music of the church, then I think you couldn't be okay with saying, I'm the worship leader and I'm going to do this music even though I know there's error in it and I know that it's not filling people with the word of Christ.

And so I know this is a controversial one because there are people who feel really strongly about certain songs and it's, oh man, I really, I just love that song and it makes me feel so good and I don't care what you think about it. But we really have to be cautious and wise as we think about what we're singing, what we're praying, what we're doing in worship. Thanks for that question. You know, what's interesting, Adriel, is that he mentions that the church seems to be theologically solid. He says they preach and teach the gospel from the pulpit. Do you think there are a lot of pastors, especially in larger churches where you have a real split, divisions of worship and what's going on in the church, where the senior pastor or the people in leadership aren't really taking a hard look at what the worship team is doing, what songs they're choosing, and how they may or may not contradict the theology of the overall church?

Maybe. I mean, that could be a thing, certainly. And so, I mean, there's a much larger discussion that can be had here, Bill, about just the role of the worship leader. There was a shift in, I want to say, the 1940s and on where you really began to have a focus on music in the church, worship music being the primary way in which people experienced the presence of God in worship.

It wasn't like that. I mean, historically, you know, when people talked about experiencing the presence of God in worship, they were usually talking about things like the Lord's Supper and the presence of Christ and the Lord's Supper pointing to the sacraments. In the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, in particular, you think of, you know, a lot of those movements that happened in North America, some of them charismatic, Pentecostal movements, but just the sort of rise of the sort of praise and worship movement. And there, the focus really was on, you know, we're the ones through our singing that bring about the presence of God. This is how you experience God's presence in worship.

It's through song. And that's why sometimes for many people today, you know, they'll say, you know, did I feel God in worship today? Well, a lot of times it depends on, well, what were the songs that were sung?

Were they the songs that I really like? And you have this sort of experience. And so that raises all sorts of questions. You know, is it the case that the primary way in which we experience the presence of God in worship is through song, is through music? That's one of the ways, certainly. But is that what the Bible teaches?

It's certainly the direction that we've gone in the last several decades. And so it raises a lot of questions. But definitely getting back to the original question, the church as a whole needs to be really wise and cautious about what she does in worship, and especially, you know, what's being sung.

Because as I said, our faith, our theology is shaped by our worship and what it is that we say in worship and do in worship. Really good counsel. Thank you for that. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible, Christian life, doctrine, theology, you name it, we would love to hear from you. You can call us for the next 10 minutes or so. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. We also want to mention that we have a group of people that believe very strongly in this ministry, so much so that they've committed to making a monthly gift to keep us on the air, to keep Core Christianity going. It's called Inner Core, and we'd love to invite you to join that team. Yeah, Bill, we do want to invite everyone considering coming alongside of us to be a member of the Inner Core. Super thankful for all of the Inner Core members that we have, for your regular gifts, for your prayers, for your encouragement, the letters that you send us. New people are discovering Core Christianity every day, and it's really a wonderful thing for us to get to hear from them and to hear how this broadcast is encouraging them in their walk with the Lord or challenging them.

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As a thank you, we'll send you a copy of the book, Core Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton, which is a wonderful book on the Core Truths of the Christian faith. Well, this is Core Christianity, and we do receive emails here at the Core. You can email us anytime and ask us your question. Here's the email address. It's questions at corechristianity.com. Here's an email from Deanna. She says, I just read an article on AI preaching a message at a church in Germany.

Would you speak to this? I keep thinking the world can't get worse than it does. Today, I no longer will be surprised at what happens around me. Yeah. Okay, so I had to look this up. I had not heard about this, and so I literally just Googled it when I saw this email as we were getting ready for the broadcast.

Here's one news report. The artificial intelligence chatbot asked believers in the fully packed St. Paul's church in the Bavarian town of Fwirth. I don't know if I'm saying that right, Bill, Fwirth, to rise from the pews and praise the Lord. The chat GPT chatbot, personified by an avatar of a bearded black man on a huge screen above the altar, then began preaching to the more than 300 people who had shown up on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service almost entirely generated by AI.

Here's a quote. Dear friends, it is an honor for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year's convention of Protestants in Germany. Are there so few Protestant preachers in Germany that we need? I mean, Martin Luther would have been really, I think, upset by this, but that we need robots or AI to do the preaching.

I think that this is just ridiculous for a number of reasons. I mean, I understand that there are probably going to be some people who say, well, man, this could be so cool. So long as what they say is good and right and in line with scripture, yeah, that's right. But the fact of the matter is there are certain people who are called to preach and entrusted with that, with that calling.

I mean, Paul talks about this in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1. This isn't just something that we leave to the bots. This is something that a person has to be qualified to do. They have to exhibit integrity. There has to be that internal call from the Holy Spirit. There are real people who are called by the Lord to fulfill this, to do this, to fulfill this office. And so, no, AI can't and shouldn't ever replace the ministers of the word. And you might be thinking, well, you're a pastor, Adriel, you just don't want to lose your job to some robot.

And that is also true. I don't want to lose my job to a robot, but it wouldn't be right or biblical for that to happen to begin with. And so we just have to think about how the New Testament really, you know, what does Paul tell Timothy? You know, the things that I've entrusted to you, you entrust those things to faithful men, guard the deposit that's been given to you. The New Testament really places this high priority on protecting, guarding the truth of God's word, what's going to be communicated. And it just seems like when you're leaving the preaching, quote unquote, up to chat GPT, you're not guarding the word of God. And there are a million other reasons why this just doesn't work.

But I think I would just leave it there. And so it's sad, frankly, it's tragic that we're doing these kinds of experiments to try to attract people, draw people to church. What we need to get back to is faithfully preaching the gospel wherever we are, and let that be what draws people to church, not the fact that we're putting on a show with AI. And so those are my thoughts. I don't know, though, like if you wanted to take a really extended vacation, you had like an Android that looked just like you.

And, you know, you trained it to really make sure that they exposited the word accurately. Why not? The Android would look would look better than me, Bill, but it would not exposit the word better than me, I don't think so. We just Yeah, let's not let's not do that. Oh, there.

Okay, let's not. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can call us 24 hours a day and leave us a voicemail. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Ramona, who's calling in from Memphis. Ramona, what's your question for Adriel? Oh, hi. Yeah, thank you for your show.

And I love listening to you guys banter. I just have a kind of a bone to pick because last week I think it was I heard you give advice about tattooing. And that didn't sit well with me because I know there's a passage in Deuteronomy that says outright that you should not tattoo or cut yourself. I know it's talking about for the dead for the cutting, but it didn't say that about the tattooing. So I'm thinking that, I mean, I just wondered, could you add anything to that?

Because that's given like an a-okay to go ahead and tattoo your body. And I don't think the Bible teaches that, please. Thank you. Well, thank you for your question, sister. Appreciate the encouragement and also the concern. You read a passage like, you mentioned one from Deuteronomy, Leviticus chapter 19 verse 28.

This is the one that oftentimes people will go to. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord. And in particular there in the context of the book of Leviticus, God is helping his people understand how to live distinctly from the pagan nations around them. And so many commentators I think rightly know that this was sort of a religious practice, a pagan religious practice that was done that God is telling his people not to do. And so its association with religious worship and so forth was I think at the heart of the prohibition. I don't know that I would extend it to the person that wants to get a butterfly tattooed on their forearm or whatever. It's more of a sort of artistic thing.

And that's why I think, Ramona, that it could also be left up to liberty of conscience, Christian liberty. Now, I do think, and in the question that I answered, I think it was last week that you might be referring to, that there are certainly things that we shouldn't get tattooed. It could be sinful. I also think that we also have to think about vanity and the idea of, well, what is it that I'm trying to do here?

Am I trying to draw a bunch of attention to myself? Well, that's probably not the best thing. So this is one of those areas that requires wisdom. But I don't know that we should go as far as to say, well, you're just not allowed to do that. And I don't think that Leviticus 19 verse 28 should be used in that way.

I think that would be taking it out of context, Ramona. And so I appreciate your concern. I appreciate your question.

Thank you for listening. And I pray that the Lord blesses your day. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, feel free to give us a call anytime. Here's our phone number, 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Again, we want to mention, we'd love to have you join our inner core, that special group of people who support this program on a regular basis. And Adriel, you mentioned real briefly that we have a great book that we're giving away in addition to folks joining the inner core. Yeah, the book again is called Core Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton.

Just some of the chapters. Jesus is God. God is three persons. God is great and good. God speaks.

A lot of really important stuff to dig into. So I hope you get a hold of this resource by joining the inner core. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673.

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