AI and God · Poor Culture

Should Christians Use AI?

Yes — with discernment. AI is a tool, not a sin. But tools shape us. Christians are called to use technology in ways that form us toward God, not away from God. That requires intentionality, not fear.

1 Corinthians 10:23Everything is permissible — but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible — but not everything is constructive.

The Christian tradition has never been anti-technology. Christians use printing presses, microphones, cameras, and the internet. The question is never whether to use a tool — the question is how the tool forms us, and whether we are using it or it is using us.

AI is a powerful tool. It can research, write, organize, create, and assist in ways that genuinely free human beings to do work that matters. None of that is inherently sinful. The computer is not the problem.

The theological concerns are more subtle. AI can displace practices that form us spiritually — prayer, Scripture engagement, human counsel, patient waiting. AI can provide comfort so efficiently that we stop bringing our pain to God. AI can generate answers so quickly that we stop developing the capacity to sit with questions.

Christians should use AI the same way they approach every tool: with intentionality. What am I using this for? Does this use move me toward God or away from God? Am I more dependent on this tool than on the Spirit?

The goal is not to avoid AI. The goal is to remain human — fully, intentionally, theologically human — in the age of machines.

Hear the Full Sermon

When Tools Become Idols — Episode 03

Rev. Karmen Michael Smith preaches through this question in the AI and God sermon series.

Read & Listen → Full Series

Common Questions

Is using AI a sin?

No. Using a tool is not a sin. Sin involves the orientation of the will — what you are trusting, what you are serving, what you are becoming. AI can become an occasion for sin when it replaces God, diminishes human dignity, or enables harm. The tool itself is morally neutral.

Should pastors use AI?

Pastors can use AI for research, administration, and preparation — with the same discernment applied to any tool. AI-generated sermons that are preached without genuine pastoral engagement, however, raise serious questions about the nature of preaching, which is not information delivery but the living voice of a called human being.

How should Christians think about AI?

Theologically. Not as early adopters, not as fearful resisters, but as people formed by Scripture who ask: What is this for? Who does it serve? Who does it harm? What does it do to me? Those questions are available to anyone rooted in the Christian tradition.

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