I first dipped my toe into the world of ChatGPT a little over a year ago. I was asked to speak to my daughter’s 8^th grade Bible class on the topic of rest: Why is rest so important, and what does living a biblically balanced, restful life look like? 

As I discussed the lesson with a friend and asked for examples on rest that would resonate with 8^th grade girls, she asked, “Have you ever used ChatGPT to help you think through a lesson?” I had not, but her suggestion intrigued me. Later that day, I sat down at my kitchen table with my computer, created an account on Chat, and typed in the following prompt: I am giving a Bible study talk to 8th grade girls on rest. What are some good opening talking points for girls that age?

I was stunned at the response ChatGPT gave me; it was not just good – it was excellent. And it did not just give me opening talking points or relevant examples of rest; it gave me an entire well-organized, clear, biblically sound lesson. I think I sat at the kitchen table with my mouth hanging open.

I was not only stunned at the quality of the lesson AI gave me; I was stunned at the speed with which it gave it to me. Using a tool like this could save me hours of time. But I was also deeply troubled. I know enough about teaching a lesson from God’s Word to know the real power of a lesson does not come from the quality of its examples or the strength of its outline; it comes from the amount of time a teacher has spent before the face of God.

It comes from the Spirit of God speaking quietly and specifically as I read the Word of God, nudging me to look up a certain word, stopping me to go back and read a certain verse again, highlighting a certain pattern in a narrative I’ve never seen before, and overwhelming me with the steadfast love of God towards an undeserving sinner like me. It comes from the hours of deep inner preparation that happens as I wrestle with the Word of God, letting it convict and shape me first before using it as an invitation and a tool to shape others. My times of study inevitably become times of worship. They become times of repentance and conviction over my sin, gratitude for the unchanging character of God, and intercession for myself and others to live, love, serve, and walk authentically according to what Scripture says.

Through the years, I’ve learned there are no shortcuts to intimacy with and insight into God’s Word. It simply takes time and focused attention to a God who is listening, directing, guiding, and showing me things in real time along the way.

As I sat in front of my computer and looked at the entire lesson ChatGPT had given me in a matter of seconds, I made a choice. I used a few of the opening examples and talking points Chat gave me, and then I shut my computer and opened the Word of God to complete the rest of my outline and lesson. This is a choice I have made again and again over the last year as I have prepared new lessons or written new blogs. 

As the people of God, we must do some serious thinking around the tool of AI. And I use the word “tool” intentionally because that is what it is – it is a tool. But it can very quickly become a master and maybe even a deity if we let our guards down and let it “speak” to us, lead us, and help us in ways that only God can. 

In his recent talk on AI, “Who Does It Serve?”, Jonathan Pageau wisely states, “The ancient wisdom often contains gold so pure its brightness can reflect on situations even the ancients could not imagine.” While Pageau uses the examples of the lance and holy grail in King Arthur’s court to help his listeners think through the use and temptations of AI today, I thought about King David and his pursuit of discerning God’s will through listening to God’s voice. While David did not have to wrestle with appropriate boundaries with ChatGPT, he did have to purposefully learn how to choose and trust active listening of God over the technological advances of his day.

In Psalm 27:4, David says,

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.

In other words, David lived to seek God’s presence and God’s will. One of the primary characteristics that made him a man after God’s own heart was that he continually inquired of God. Instead of asking idols, he asked Yahweh. Instead of plotting out his own path, he asked God which way to go. Instead of relying on military might, he relied on the name of the Lord His God. And because of this, God blessed David. He gave him a descendant and a kingdom that would last forever—not because David was so culturally relevant but because he was spiritually dependent on the wisdom of His good God.  

In order to keep AI as a tool we use instead of a deity or master we serve, it would be good for each one of us, especially those of us who are Bible study teachers, ministry leaders, or pastors, to think through what our parameters and boundaries with AI need to be. 

While AI can help us do research and find relevant statistics, it should never function as a deity, telling us where to focus in a lesson, where to linger in a Bible study, or what the text is actually saying, giving us a way to bypass hours spent before the face of a living God. If we are willing to trade interaction and conversation with Yahweh for the efficiency, speed, and well-ordered outline from AI, not only will our souls suffer but the people we are teaching will suffer as well. This is because we cannot give to others what we do not have ourselves. If we do not have authentic relationship with God, forged in the fires of honest searching, studying, prayer, and vulnerability, we will not be able to pass on authentic relationship with God to others. 

Determining our relationship and boundaries with AI is not just important for church leaders but for lay leaders too. Parents, our children are watching how we interact with AI. Research suggests parents model both positive and negative patterns of device use — kids as young as 6–9 notice and describe their parents’ phone habits in detail when interviewed. And I can guarantee they notice how often we are asking Chat or Claude for directions, itineraries, outlines, travel advice, and guidance for just about everything. 

AI is not going anywhere any time soon, and while we cannot make changes on a widescale level, we can implement boundaries and make changes on a personal level. And that’s always where the best kind of change begins.

When you think about AI, here are some questions I would think about asking and boundaries I would think about implementing. If you have a teenage in the house, consider using the following prompts in conversation with him or her over the summer:

• Question: Am I using AI like a tool or like a deity? 
  • Boundary: To keep AI from having a louder voice in my life than it should, spend more time inquiring of God than of AI. Before picking up your phone each day, pick up your Bible and a journal. Study, pray, worship, and linger before the face of a living God who speaks to us all throughout the day. 

• Question: Is my use of AI helping me to remember the limits of my humanity or pushing me to go beyond them?
  • Boundary: In an age where we are tempted to push the limits of our humanity and think we can be all things to all people all the time, we need to remember we are only human. Implement rhythms and boundaries in your day to become more human, not less. Get 7-8 hours of sleep; put your phone down, turn your computer off, and go visit with a neighbor across the street or play a game with your child. Take up gardening, go on a run, move your body, and engage in God’s good world. Think through the very good limits that make you human, and purposefully honor and engage in them. 

• Question: Is using AI helping me to do better work or is it cheating me out of the necessary work I need to mature for the future?
  • Boundary: I shudder to think about the things I would have missed learning how to do if ChatGPT existed when I was a teenager. If you are a teenager or young adult, don’t let AI do for you the things you need to learn how to do in order to build a solid foundation for the future. If you are a writer, you need to learn how to write and edit. If you are an architect, you need to learn how to draw and design. If you are a teacher, you need to learn how to put a lesson together and teach. As M.L. Malbim writes, “…youth is the time to prepare the seed-bed of one’s character for moral wisdom to take root.” Don’t let AI rob you of the necessary lessons you need to walk wisely and confidently throughout the rest of your life.

In closing, while we cannot choose how other people use AI, including those who have created it and stand to profit from it, we can choose how we will use it and allow it to shape us. Let us be people who inquire daily of our God and seek His face always over anyone and anything else.