WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.720 Well, good morning, Spring Lake Church. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:03.359 Good morning. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:04.400 My name is Bill. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.440 I'm one of the pastors here on staff at Spring Lake Church. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.039 It is so great to be with you. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.320 This is only my second time that I've gotten to preach at Lawrence, but I'm so happy to be back. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.640 We are actually continuing on our series called Uncomfortable. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.879 And today we are gonna talk about artificial intelligence. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:28.079 Someone earlier looked at the slide and they're like, why are we talking about Al? 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:30.000 Because I thought it looked like Al. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.760 So, no, we're not talking about L. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:34.640 But we are talking about artificial intelligence. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:41.439 And can we just like pause for a moment and recognize the weird moment that we are in in human history? 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:47.280 Like, there are days where I feel like I'm living in a science fiction novel. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:57.679 Like I wrote, I read science fiction growing up a lot, and I felt like, wow, we're like actually living this moment right now. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.679 We have artificial intelligence that can talk like a human being. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:06.879 We have deep fake videos and images that are hard to distinguish from reality. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:23.359 I read one story where um someone used AI to clone a man's voice and then called his grandmother and per and impersonated the grandson and said that he needed$2,000 and she sent it to him. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:28.480 She didn't know that it was AI because how would she know it's her grandson's voice? 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:40.079 And perhaps more alarming is that AI has gone far beyond chatbots and answering questions to now it can actually act like a human being on the computer. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:51.439 In the next five years, AI is predicted not only to do that, to do things what can be done on a computer, but to be combined with robots, super intelligence in a body. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:52.879 That's kind of scary. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:59.680 And I keep on thinking this as we've gone through this age, is I've seen this movie before. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.959 Also, it doesn't end well, does it? 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.640 The movie doesn't end well. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.280 And maybe that's why this subject is uncomfortable for people. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:20.319 Everything is moving so fast, and our kids and our grandkids are gonna grow up into adulthood, into a world that is kind of indistinguishable from the one we grew up in. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:31.919 And to make matters worse, people are worried that AI is gonna steal their jobs, that it's gonna destroy their privacy, that AI will make a few companies rich, and all the rest of us will be destitute. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.520 Whenever the future is uncertain, fear arises. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:44.159 Now, I would suspect that there's probably certain expectations you have from hearing that we are going to talk about AI. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.120 There's just things that you expect that we would talk about. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:53.599 Now, some of you would probably love for me to get up here and share about how evil AI is. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:55.680 Because there's a lot of people who hate AI. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:00.159 And so you would love for me to say how Christians should stay away from it. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:10.319 Some of you might want me to even say that it's like summoning a demon, or that it's actually uh the Antichrist or the mark of the beast, or link it to Revelation in some way. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.960 And then there's probably others who are just curious. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:19.280 Maybe you've played with it, you've seen how powerful it could be, and you're just hoping for some biblical insight. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:25.280 But the big question is this how should we think about AI as a Christ follower? 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:31.360 And I just want to get a few things off the bat, I just want to get a few things out of the way off the bat right away. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.960 First, I need to tell you this. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:37.039 No, I did not use AI to write this sermon, okay? 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:39.120 I know you were all thinking it. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:43.680 You're like, I wonder, he probably, Chat GBT, write me a sermon on AI, right? 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:45.039 No, I did not do that. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:51.280 Second, if you haven't heard this, this is the way that AI works, because I found a lot of people don't know how it works. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.000 At its base level, here's how it works. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:05.759 Researchers took vast amounts of human data, think like the entire internet, and they trained these models, these computer models on it, to predict what would come next. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.599 So when you ask it a question, it's actually predicting the next word. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.560 AI is like a giant autocomplete feature. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:18.399 You ever seen that on your phone where it's like, here's what you could say next, here's the next word you could say, or in your email. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:19.439 That's what it's doing. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.600 It's just doing it on a really grand scale. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:28.079 It's guessing what's next based on millions and billions of pieces of data that was fed into it. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:29.839 Now, why is that important? 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:40.160 Well, because you need to understand, you need to get it in your mind that actually this is human technology made from human intelligence. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.279 In other words, it does not have a soul. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.720 It does not have a soul, it is not alive and it is not a person. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:54.160 It is not and it will not and it can never be created in the image of God. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:55.839 It's just not. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.279 But also, it's not a demon. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:07.519 And I think um, I suspect that the forces of evil can use it to deceive us just like any other media we have. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.279 But the point is this that AI is artificial intelligence. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:19.360 We've shortened it all to these two letters, A and I, and we forget the artificial part. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:25.120 It is artificial intelligence, it is simulating human intelligence. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:37.600 And that probably seems really obvious to you when you think about it, but honestly, because the technology is so good, it's so convincing, people are being fooled. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.560 They think that there's something behind this box. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.680 People have AI girlfriends and AI boyfriends. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:50.240 There are people who become attached to their AI chatbot as a coach, a counselor, or a friend. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:06:02.399 When something feels so real to us and it you're getting from it what you're missing in your human relationships, it can be easy to get sucked in and forget that this is artificial. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.800 This is artificial intelligence. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.959 There is no man or woman behind the curtain, it's a machine. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:11.839 Now, I could say a whole ton of things about AI. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.680 I'm very interested in this subject, but we only have one sermon for this series on it. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:30.000 And so as I was praying and asking the Lord what He would want me to teach on AI, um I was praying about what would be helpful for our congregation, and I realized what we really need is a framework. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:31.360 We need a framework. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.560 In fact, what we really need is some guardrails. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.079 Because whether we like it or not, we live in an age of AI. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.279 A lot of you are like, well, I've never, I never use AI. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.720 That's not even part of my life. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:49.439 Here's the thing: all of us use AI because it's actually being built into every human system that we have right now. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.120 The packages that get routed to your house are using AI. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:54.480 It is part of our system. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:58.079 So whether you use it directly or indirectly, it is part of our life. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:08.720 So instead of being fearful or unsure or getting sucked into it without thinking, I want to give you some biblical guidance about following Jesus in the age of AI. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:13.199 So if you have your Bible, you can open it to Romans chapter 12. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:14.720 It'll be on the screens as well. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.199 But as we're turning there, let me pray for us. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:23.759 Lord, we come to you and we recognize that you are King of kings. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:30.879 You are Lord of Lords, you are sovereign over all things, and you are sovereign over human technology. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:39.360 And Lord, we pray that you would instruct us and guide us by the truth of your word this morning and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:41.759 Lord, would we listen and would we listen well? 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:46.319 Would you help us to be discerning and wise when it comes to technology? 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.040 We pray this in Jesus' name and all God's people said. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:50.079 Amen. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.639 Romans 12, 1 and 2, it says this. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:08:02.959 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.240 This is your true and proper worship. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:12.560 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:18.720 Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:24.800 Now, within this passage, there's three helpful guardrails that's gonna help us follow Jesus in the age of AI. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:30.240 And the first one is this in the age of AI, surrender everything to Christ. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:31.759 Look at the passage again. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:39.759 I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:45.039 This is your spiritual or this is your true and proper worship. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.159 I've always really loved this idea of living sacrifice. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:51.679 A living sacrifice. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:57.840 You know, in the Old Testament, when they sacrificed an animal, it meant that it had to be killed. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.279 There was a death involved in it. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:06.080 Hebrews 9 22 says this: without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.840 And so the animal had to be killed as part of the process. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.960 The animal was sacrificed in the place of the people. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.960 It's called an atonement. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:21.919 But fast forward to the New Testament, believers already have the ultimate sacrifice already paid for us. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:22.960 They have Jesus. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.000 We have Jesus. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.120 His blood has covered us once and for all. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.120 Death has already been conquered. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.200 And this is what Paul means by in view of God's mercy. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:47.200 As you think about God's mercy in Jesus, in him sacrificing his son, our response to that should be to offer ourselves, our whole selves, to be living sacrifices. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:51.120 When we do that, we're worshiping God with our whole selves. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:57.039 Now, you might be asking already, okay, Pastor Bill, thank you for the theology lesson. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.120 What does that have to do with AI? 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:06.559 Like a lot of you were probably thinking when I was reading that passage, you're like, okay, how does Romans 12 apply to AI? 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:16.399 Well, the picture here in Romans 12, 1 is that the entirety of our being needs to be under the Lordship of Jesus. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:21.759 To be honest, I don't think we always understand the depth of that or what that means exactly. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:27.759 We think this, yeah, my Sunday self goes and worships Jesus, my whole Sunday self. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.120 When I'm there on Sunday, I belong to Jesus, right? 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.799 Or when I'm doing a spiritual activity, he is Lord. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:43.759 When I pray, when I sing worship songs, when I meet with my life group, when I serve the church, that's when I'm a complete living sacrifice to God. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:51.360 But we have a hard time realizing that Christ actually has to be Lord over all of my life. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:11:03.759 That Jesus has to be Lord over my job, over my time, over my choices, over my desires, over what I watch, how I use my phone, my food, my possessions, over all of it. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:12.879 In order to be a living sacrifice, Christ must be Lord even over my tools and my technology and how I use them. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:18.159 The reformers put it this way: all of Christ for all of life. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:23.759 Or Philippians 1.21 says this, to live is Christ. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:25.360 Here's the point. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:37.679 The first and foremost guardrail to follow Jesus in the age of AI is to intentionally bring the use and interaction of AI under the Lordship of Jesus. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.120 Before we can ask this, can I use this? 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.240 Is it efficient? 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:43.440 Will it save me time? 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.000 Before we can say, is everyone else using it? 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:52.720 We have to ask, can this technology be brought under the authority of Jesus in my life? 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.159 Can this be used in a way that honors Jesus? 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.399 Can this be received with gratitude? 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.559 Can it be tested with God's wisdom? 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.320 Can it be used in love? 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:04.320 Because that's what we're supposed to be about. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:06.559 Now, let's pause for a second. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.639 Some of you were hearing that. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:12.799 And because you don't like AI, you were hoping that I would say no to those questions. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:14.960 Can this be brought under the authority of Jesus? 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.320 No, it's all bad. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:18.480 Can we use it in a way that honors Jesus? 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:19.519 No, it's all bad. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:28.080 And I've seen a lot of this in Christian circles lately, is that AI equals bad or immoral and wrong. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:36.159 And now, to be fair, I actually do think that there are some solid arguments for why AI could be problematic. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:41.360 A big one is this, and I hear this one a lot from people, is intellectual property. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:53.919 See, the systems, the data that was used to train all these AI models often came from real people, like artists and musicians and writers and researchers and creators. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:01.440 And Christians should care about that because everyone's doing it is actually not a really good ethic for Christians. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:15.840 So, yes, I believe that companies building these tools should be honest and they should be accountable and they should be fair to the people whose work that they use to make this possible, but here's where I want to be really careful. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:23.519 The fact that there are real ethical concerns does not automatically mean that every use of a tool is sinful. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:30.399 The truth is that we already live in really morally complicated systems in our modern age. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.480 Just think about all the morally complicated things we do all of the time. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:36.320 The phones we carry. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:46.240 You know, if you trace it back, we've heard reports over the years that they use slave labor to make our phones, or at least indentured servitude in some way, right? 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:51.679 But it also goes to the clothes we wear, the food we buy, the companies that we shop from. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.279 Do you believe in the morality of all the companies you shop from? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:56.480 I don't. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.639 And so almost none of our society is morally untouched. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:09.759 And when we discover something that's complicated, our response should not be naive approval, but it also should not be automatic rejection either. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.559 Our response should be discernment and wisdom from God. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:22.480 There is a difference between saying that this tool exists inside a broken system and saying every use of this tool is wrong. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:29.840 And there's also a difference between saying, I can use this, and saying, I can use this however I want. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.960 And honestly, this isn't the first time that Christians had have had to think this way. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:40.799 This is there's precedent for this because Paul actually deals with something similar in 1 Corinthians. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.879 The issue was that meat had been sacrificed to idols. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.960 And for some Christians, eating that meat felt unthinkable. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:50.879 It was connected to idol worship. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:52.480 How could you eat that meat? 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:57.519 And their conscience could not separate the food from the worship of a false God. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.639 Still, there was other believers during Paul's day who said, an idol is nothing. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:04.240 It doesn't even really exist. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:11.519 And so even though it was sacrificed to an idol, there's only one true God, and so I can eat this food with a clean conscience. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:17.919 And what's interesting is that Paul, his response to the Corinthians is not to flatten the issue. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.240 He doesn't say, um, okay, well, here's what I'm gonna say. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.799 Everyone must eat the meat because there are real, there's really no idols. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.519 He also doesn't say, no one must eat it. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.440 He doesn't give a yes or no. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.919 Instead, he gives them a deeper way to think. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:39.519 And he says this to them: he says, everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:43.519 Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:51.120 In other words, Christian freedom is real, but Christian freedom is not the same thing as Christian wisdom. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:55.759 Just because I can do something does not mean I should do something. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.720 Just because my conscience is clear does not mean my motives are necessarily pure. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:06.480 Just because something is useful does not mean it's it's forming me in Christ. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.240 It's leading me towards Jesus. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.519 And so when it comes to AI, I actually think that AI belongs in this category. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:20.000 For some Christians, their conscience may say, I cannot use this in good faith. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.960 I feel like there are ways that I can't use this. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:30.000 And it would violate what I believe about how I'm supposed to interact with the world based on being a follower of Jesus. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.960 And to you, I'd say, don't violate your conscience. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.320 That's what Paul would say. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:40.960 For others, their conscience may say, I can use this, but as a Christ follower, I have to use it with limits and wisdom. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:51.759 I can only use it with honesty, with a way that serves people, with a ways that doesn't replace prayer or wisdom in my life or creativity or love, who God created me to be. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.200 And I actually think when it comes to AI, that that's the right frame. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:07.200 AI use is not a matter of trendiness or efficiency, it's not a matter of fear, it's a matter of Christian conscience and discernment under the Lordship of Jesus. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:10.720 And so the question is not simply, am I allowed to use it? 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.519 The better question is, is this beneficial? 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:14.640 Does this build up? 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.160 Does this help me love God? 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:17.599 Does it help me love people? 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.359 Does this make me more truthful? 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:20.960 Does it make me more faithful? 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:22.559 Does it make me more wise? 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:29.119 Or is this slowly training me to outsource the very things Jesus wants to form in me? 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:32.799 And actually that's where we're gonna go next because the next guardrail is this. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.240 In the age of AI, resist what is shaping you. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:44.960 Go back to the passage, verse two, it says this do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:49.279 I want you to imagine two basketball players in a gym. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:54.400 They show up to the gym, their coach is there, the coach says, I want you to make a hundred shots. 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:58.319 Not take a hundred shots, I want you to make a hundred shots. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.200 And you can use the scoreboard to track each other. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:02.160 And then he walks away. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.720 And at first, they do what they're told. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.160 They start taking the shots. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:11.599 One shoots and the other operates, and they only press the button when the other player actually makes a shot. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:16.640 And so it's make, miss, make, miss, and they're they're keeping track, and the number slowly comes. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:18.240 But guess what happens? 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.839 They get tired. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:23.920 And tired people are more often creative than honest. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.720 And so one of them notices something. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:29.920 He notices the coach isn't here. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:36.240 And what the coach wants to see at the end of this whole thing is that that scoreboard says 100. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.799 And so now the temptation appears. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.160 Why keep shooting? 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.920 When you can make the scoreboard move, why sweat? 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:45.440 Why correct your form? 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:47.759 Why bend your knees while follow through? 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:53.839 Why miss, reset, and shoot again when one little button can announce the same result? 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.640 And so what do they keep doing? 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:04.079 They keep pressing the button, and then at the end the scoreboard says 100, even though they haven't made a hundred shots. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.359 And guess what? 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.039 Neither one of them had become a better shooter. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:14.160 Now the scoreboard didn't lie exactly, it counted what it was told to count. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:18.079 But it's it also couldn't tell the truth on what mattered most. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.599 It could not tell whether practice had happened. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.079 It could not tell whether the player had been trained by the exercise. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:35.440 The point was never merely to make one or to for the the point was never merely to have the board say a hundred. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:41.359 The point was to become the kind of player who could make 100 shots. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.559 The repetition wasn't the obstacle to the goal. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.319 The repetition was part of the goal. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.920 The missed shots weren't interruptions, they were teachers. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:02.000 Think about it, the sweat, the frustration, the correction, the boredom, the focus, the learning to breathe and begin again, those are not unfortunate costs on the way to formation. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.240 They are the road through which formation is supposed to come. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.480 Do not be conformed to the pattern of this word. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:11.440 World. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.920 The word conform carries with it this idea of being put into a mold. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:24.799 Now, when I was in college, in order to make money to go to college, during the summers, I worked in a rotational mold factory. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.440 Okay, and you might not know what that is, but you basically make rubber products. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.160 And I was making rubber boat bumpers. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:32.640 Okay? 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:47.599 I would take this gooey liquidy petroleum product and I would dump it into this mold and I'd put it on a machine and then I would cook it and then I'd wait for it to cool, and out would come the exact shape of what was in that mold. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.680 And that's the idea that you're getting here. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:57.200 Paul is acknowledging in this passage the world we live in is constantly shaping us into its mold. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.079 It's forming us into its shape. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:09.200 And specifically in our context, the world in which we live in is constantly trying to shape us into efficiency as the highest good. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:16.319 In the West, in America especially, we really worship as a culture efficiency. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:17.839 That's the best thing you can do. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.839 How to get the most work done in the least amount of time. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.680 And so I just want you to think about this. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:28.000 If that's what the world is trying to shape you into, now imagine this. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.000 It's been a long day. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:32.319 And you're really tired. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:33.519 You're exhausted. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:35.519 You've had an emotional day yourself. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:40.319 And your friend texts you and they say they're going through a really hard time. 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:50.000 And because you're so tired and you don't know what to say back, you pull up Chat GPT and you get a brilliant, empathetic, sounding result to send to them. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.079 And you go ahead and you send it back. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:55.759 Wow, that was so much more efficient. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.559 That was so much easier. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.599 It was so much. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:05.839 Less friction than thinking through it and maybe not responding as well. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:07.359 Well, great. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:08.480 Guess what? 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:14.079 You were efficient, but my question is, what did you lose in the process? 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.319 What did you lose in the process? 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:25.440 One of the biggest dangers for using AI as Christ followers is using it without realizing that it's actually forming you. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.720 It is shaping you every time you use it. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.799 It can give us answers without wrestling with the question. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:35.440 It can give us a paragraph without thinking. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.160 It can give an apology without humility. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:43.599 It can give prayer without the ache that's supposed to go with your prayer. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:50.720 That does not mean AI is automatically evil, that's not what I'm saying, but it does mean that the question is serious. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:52.079 What happens? 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.079 What happens to us as Christ followers? 00:22:54.160 --> 00:23:03.519 What happens to us as a society when we keep getting the result while skipping the formation that is supposed to produce something in us? 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:08.559 What happens when we can sound wise without actually becoming wise? 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:16.240 What happens when we can create and we can answer and we can summarize and we can plan and we can respond and we can decide faster than ever? 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:17.039 But guess what? 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:25.279 Patience, discernment, prayer, honesty, love, they begin shrinking inside of us. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:32.480 In order to follow Jesus in the age of AI, we have to be careful how we use it and how much we use it. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:37.759 We have to be sober minded that the technology is actually forming us. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.799 And so we need some actual guardrails. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:42.960 And again, this isn't exhaustive. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:44.880 This isn't every possible situation. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:59.359 This isn't me saying there's no faithful way to use AI, but what I'm saying is that we need to pay attention to the places where AI doesn't just help us do something faster, but it helps us avoid becoming someone deeper. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:03.599 Someone's God is trying to make us into, to be more like Jesus. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:07.839 For example, I'm gonna give you some examples and I think you should put these into practice. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.440 AI should not replace your voice in relationships. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:14.960 It should not replace your voice in relationships. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.960 If a friend texts you and says, Man, I'm really struggling. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:25.759 I'm struggling today, be careful about outsourcing your compassion to a machine. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:32.240 You can use a tool to help you think, but don't let it love your friend for you. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:35.440 They don't need a perfect paragraph. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:36.880 What they need is you. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:40.880 They need the Spirit of God working in you to minister to them. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.319 AI shouldn't also replace your repentance. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:56.880 Uh if you need to apologize to your spouse, your child, your friend, your coworker, don't ask AI to generate the right words so that you can escape the discomfort of having to write it yourself. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:03.440 The discomfort is actually part of what God is using to shape you, inform you. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.039 The wrestling is part of the repentance. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.720 AI should not replace your spiritual wisdom. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:24.160 If you are carrying a deep wound, a hidden sin, a marriage crisis, a parenting fear, a major decision, don't let a chat bot become your pastor, your counselor, your community, or your Holy Spirit. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:28.160 In other words, don't replace me or any of the other pastors with AI. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:28.720 Please. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:29.759 I like my job. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.000 Instead, talk to a mature believer, talk to a pastor, talk to a counselor. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:42.799 Do not confuse information from a box as shepherding from a real live person. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.799 AI shouldn't replace the work that is supposed to train you. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:53.599 Listen, if you have an assignment that is meant to teach you how to think, don't use AI to avoid thinking. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:55.839 The assignment's supposed to teach you how to think. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:02.240 If the conversation is meant to teach you how to love, don't use AI to avoid presence. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:09.680 If the prayer is meant to teach you dependence, don't use AI to avoid silence before God. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:28.480 Because with AI, the danger is not only that it might give us the wrong answer, which by the way it does sometimes, the danger is that AI might give us the right sounding answers while we actually become less patient, we become less prayerful, less honest, less present, and less wise. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:38.960 And so maybe one of the best questions we can ask is not only, did this help me get the result that I wanted, but what kind of person is this helping me become? 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:43.519 And so the guardrail is to resist what is shaping you, but there's a third one as well. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.759 It's this in the age of AI, renew your mind to discern God's will. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:57.200 So verse two goes on like this: it says, Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:03.839 Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good and pleasing and perfect will. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:08.160 You know, there's been this really interesting development in the age of AI. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.160 Uh researchers thought, wow, this is so efficient. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.599 Like people are gonna be able to get so much more work done. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:22.640 People are gonna outsource things to AI that they don't like doing, and they're gonna have so much more time on their hands. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:30.799 And what they've actually found recently is actually that AI has caused workers to spend more time working, not less. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:44.240 It turns out that getting things done, especially getting things done without a lot of friction, can become addicting, and so instead of stopping the task, when you are done with that task, you figure out what to do next. 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:49.680 In other words, work begets work, or work, frictionless work begets work. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:28:00.000 And so the world of what's possible to write and create and analyze and research and organize has just been greatly expanded for every person. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:05.119 And so we get more sucked into the technology more than ever before. 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:17.200 And let's be honest, if you are working right now and you are in the world that way, um, between work and phones and streaming devices, our minds are fatigued. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:20.559 Our minds are full, more full than ever before. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:31.359 In this passage, Paul identifies that in order to know the path that God wants us on, his good and perfect will, we have to focus on renewing our minds. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:36.319 And as I thought about this over this last week, I kept coming back to one idea. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.519 In order to renew our minds, we have to do the opposite of artificial. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:43.440 We have to do the opposite of artificial. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:45.200 Let me share some ways this looks like. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:48.240 Number one, being quiet before God. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:57.839 Being quiet before God in prayer, setting time without distractions, without a screen or media to be with God, listening and worshiping and praying. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:03.920 The world is so loud, we need to get to be with God without it. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:09.599 And I know, like, if you're like me, I do this because I'm really into technology. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.839 I'm like, I'm gonna be quiet with God. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:19.839 And I go and I sit down and my phone's in my pocket, and I'm I'm doing great for the first 10 minutes, and then I'm like, oh, I'm gonna look this thing up. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:20.880 I need to think about this thing. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.960 All of a sudden I'm sucked into the world of technology. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:24.480 You know how you defeat that? 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:27.279 Leave your devices out of the room. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:28.640 Spend time with God. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:31.200 He is the most important in your life. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:33.200 Carve out time to be with him. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:34.880 Another one is this God's word. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.359 We need time soaking in the truth. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:38.960 We need to wrestle with God's word. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:43.920 We need to discover the wisdom and the grace that we can only find in Scripture. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.920 And again, I'm I'm guilty of this. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.599 Like, I kind of wrote this whole sermon for myself, so I hope you enjoy it too. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:54.960 But um, but listen, there are times, listen, I'm a super curious person. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:57.039 I want to know the answer to everything all the time. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:00.559 You know, like the four-year-old who's like, Dad, why, why, why, what's this? 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:01.200 Da-da-da. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:02.319 That's me, okay? 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.720 I've just learned to tamp it down, okay? 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:09.759 And so when I read the Bible sometimes, I'm like, oh man, I wonder what that means. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:13.039 Like, oh, I'm gonna go look it up, Chat GPT, what does this mean? 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.720 Or Google, what does this mean? 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.000 Listen, no. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:26.480 Part of you not knowing is you wrestling with God's word, you letting the Holy Spirit speak into that moment, you letting yourself soak in it. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:31.119 And you know what I found when I don't get the answer from technology in some way? 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:33.440 Here's what has been crazy over and over again. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.519 I'll be talking with a friend like two days later, and then guess what? 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.519 God brings this up, and I'm like, hey, I was reading this passage and I was wondering about this thing. 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:42.799 They're like, oh, I just read about this. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:43.599 Here's what I think. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:48.720 And then all of a sudden, God reveals the answer in a relationship. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:50.480 And so God works that way. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:54.319 We need to disconnect from those things and spend time in God's word. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:00.400 Family and friendships, we need face-to-face, undistracted time with those closest to us. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:04.079 Our relationships are good gifts from God and they renew us. 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:05.200 Listen to this. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.480 Your chatbot is not your friend. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.359 Your friend is your friend. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:15.680 I mean sometimes I'm like, 2026, why do I have to say these things? 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:17.200 These are obvious things, right? 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:19.039 Your chatbot is not your friend. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:31.200