Pastoral Leadership in the Age of A.I.
Guest Post
With artificial intelligence everywhere, pastoral leaders have instant access to vast amounts of knowledge that previously required hours, even days, to uncover. You can have AI research a sermon topic, draft a lesson plan, diagnose a problem, and perform many other tasks modern ministry requires. Information is no longer scarce and the way information is accessed by a pastoral leader is changing.
Consider books: an expansive library was once the prized possession of vocational pastors. Not any longer. Why labor through a book when that information can be at your fingertips in seconds? With over three decades in ministry, I have books stored in four different locations in my home. What do I do with them? Yet this is the moment we find ourselves in. Information comes to us differently. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my books!
This massive shift in how we receive information raises important questions: What kind of intelligence really matters? How is the role of pastoral leader significant in the age of AI?
While AI can quickly collect and share information, it cannot weigh it with wisdom. That’s where you come into the picture. The discerning heart of a pastor is irreplaceable. Reliable sources of information never go out of style and it is your spiritual insight that gives it meaning. A Pastoral leader must help people recognize what is true, what is harmful, and what brings life. Most importantly, a pastoral leader helps people connect their heads and hearts. We can deliver valuable knowledge and information, but if it isn’t internalized, we’ve failed in our role as pastors.
AI can help solve complex problems and even assist with strategy, but it can never replace a missional calling. Pastoral leadership is rooted in a call to service, and that calling is sacred and unique to who you are as a person. AI can only reproduce what already exists; it cannot blaze new trails, create a new wineskin, or pioneer new frontiers in ministry; that work belongs to you.
Ten years ago, I launched a ministry to reach a specific group of young men with no playbook, no borrowed wisdom, and no ready-made strategy. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I had many failures along the way. My soul was burdened for young men and I found myself working out a strategy in the midst of actually doing the ministry. In ministry, strategy and soul must move together. And that is something AI can never do.
AI can assist you in writing sermons, but it cannot breathe life into those sermons. I am not currently serving in a preaching role, so I listen to many sermons. I’m beginning to hear sermons that are written with AI assistance. I’m not entirely opposed to this idea, because it can help with precision, wording, and phrasing. But overuse of AI can push authenticity into the margins. When I listen to a sermon, I want to know I am hearing a prophetic voice, not a machine. The preaching moment is intended to bring dry bones to life. Transmitting information doesn’t change hearts; heartfelt messages, bathed in prayer and anointed by the Holy Spirit, do. When I listen to a sermon, I find myself refreshed by hearing words that flow from a perfect heart, not perfect prose produced by AI. I bet I’m not alone.
Many experts predict job losses will accompany the adoption of AI in the new economy. Don’t worry, pastor, your job will never be in jeopardy. Your role as a pastor, priest, and prophet is needed more than ever. People are still hungry for real wisdom, the kind that connects the head to the heart. There will always be a need for pastoral leaders who have gained real knowledge through their own successes and failures, ups and downs, through formal education and the school of hard knocks. And in a world increasingly saturated with artificial intelligence, it’s time we step up and deliver the kind of spiritual wisdom and intelligence that can only come from gutting it out in the trenches of ministry, loving those who are unlovable, and leading people out of darkness. That timeless spiritual wisdom is the real commodity in the age of AI.
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