15/06/2026
MINISTERS' MATERIAL
Why Ministers Should Not Fear the Use of AI
In the recent past, I have watched reels and read posts where some people have strongly opposed the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in sermon preparation. Or at all in the pulpit.
Allow me to share my position.
This is not the first time the Church has faced a technological shift head on. What intrigues me is that whenever a new form of technology emerges, the Church is often among the first to criticize it. I do not say this to insult anyone, but to point out an obvious pattern.
Please, technological advancements are not from the devil! Ideas, creativity, innovation, and the ability to solve problems are gifts that ultimately come from God. The issue has never been the existence of a tool. No. The issue has always been how people decide to use it.
I want us to look at a simple analogy. A knife. Simply put, it was created to prepare food and perform useful tasks. Yet people have also used knives to harm and even kill others. But the truth is that we do not condemn the existence of knives because some people misuse them. Instead, we address the misuse.
The same principle applies to technology.
I will take us a little back. When television first appeared, many believers refused to have anything to do with it, calling it "the devil's box." Certainly, television has been used to spread ungodly content. But it has also carried the gospel into homes, hospitals, prisons, and nations where missionaries could not physically go. To dismiss the entire concept because of its misuse, is to ignore the God given ingenuity that made it possible. It is simply counterintuitive.
Perhaps we give the devil too much credit at times.
When the internet and search engines became widely available, there were concerns about "Google sermons" and ministers who were no longer Spirit led. There was some truth in the warning and we get it. A preacher can become lazy and depend entirely on copied material. However, there is also a form of false humility that insists on digging with sticks and stones when picks and shovels are available.
And if excavators now exist, why insist that using a shovel is somehow more spiritual? You get it ka?
Look, AI is simply another tool.
It is a powerful assistant especially in research, that can help ministers organise thoughts, compare translations, summarise theological viewpoints, locate relevant Scriptures, improve grammar, among other things, and save valuable time.
I personally do not see why a minister should spend unnecessary hours searching through piles of physical books and concordances when trustworthy digital tools can assist the process.
But there is still a caution.
There is one thing AI cannot manufacture. It is called inspiration. Brothers and sisters, you can generate a beautifully structured sermon through AI and still have a message that is dry and lifeless. Why? Because sermons are not merely lectures. True ministry flows from the work of the Holy Spirit. Revelation, conviction, burden, discernment, and spiritual authority cannot be outsourced to a robot! Aikona!
AI can help you prepare a sermon, but it cannot give you an encounter with God. It cannot replace prayer. It cannot replace study. It cannot replace time spent in God's presence.
It cannot hear the specific instruction of the Holy Spirit for a particular congregation and season.
Therefore, the wise approach is not to reject AI nor to depend on it completely but to Pray. Seek God. Read the Scriptures. Receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Prepare your notes. Then use AI responsibly for formatting, additional research, language refinement, illustrations, fact-checking, and organising your material. Used in this way, it becomes an assistant rather than a substitute.
The Apostle Paul used the Roman roads of his day to advance the gospel. Later generations used the printing press to distribute Bibles. Others used radio, television, websites, mobile applications, and social media. Each generation has had to decide whether it would fear the tool or redeem it for God's purposes.
AI presents our generation with the same choice.
In short, let us use AI. But let us use it cautiously, wisely, and prayerfully, just as we have used the internet, Bible software, and countless other tools for their intended purpose.
We should not feel guilty for embracing helpful technology. The question is not whether we use tools. The real question is whether the Holy Spirit still leads us while we use them.
This article is not an endorsement of laziness in ministry. Rather, it is an invitation to combine spiritual depth with wise stewardship of the tools God has allowed humanity to develop.
