Joel, framing AI as a stewardship tool rather than a shortcut resonates deeply—your examples demonstrate how technology can free leaders to focus on meaningful engagement without compromising their core mission.
Great practical insight and tips. I use a variety of AI tools for better productivity. I actually like Claude.ia over ChatGPT. But both are great tools.
This is incredibly timely. I was just talking to somebody about using AI who is a pastor and how they could potentially benefit. And I passed this article on to them. Have a great rest of your week, Joel.
Very interesting!! I see AI fingerprints in my own church as well -- from sermon titles, to graphics, just like your research described! Curious to follow what this looks like in other industries!
Joel this has some transferable core principles that all entrepreneurs can use. Thanks for putting it together. All leaders can use some spirituality, and i liked the thoughtful tool usage thingy you shared. I resonated with the false choice problem and you serve a good reminder here :)
So grateful for this perspective. I've been using AI in similar always and always have the twinge of guilt or shame from those who condemn it, but from the beginning the key for me has been to stay in control of it... to keep my voice front and center and verify sources.
I have found it can be a good conversation partner to help me refine or develop ideas I already had, but you have to talk back to it a bit, challenge it when it pushes too far and starts to dilute your voice and intent. That's the fun part.
I love the prompts you offer in this post. One other use I've found is to help customize liturgical elements around particular themes or scriptures. It can stay true to various liturgical forms from your own denomination resources and adapt the content to fit the theme for the week. Great for calls to worship, benediction, etc.
My two key rules are:
1. Start with my own work and voice first.
2. End with my own voice and work. In other words, I don't just copy anything directly from AI without a final layer of human refinement.
Very helpful post and I'm saving it for reference. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your own helpful prompt, Craig! That's the key, understanding that like social media, internet, live streaming, these tools are amoral and can either amplify your mission or distract you from it. It is about having a balance and a plan. I love to see that you have a great plan! I look forward to learning more from your content!
A great read. Lead with discernment and prayer in any endeavor, be wise and create guard rails. Never replace the authentic self and Gods presence with the leanings and outputs of a tool you are meant to use to enhance, not replace your doctrinal mission.
I use AI to do the grunt work of developing content. When the idea for the post comes, AI acts as a research assistant and proofreader. The work it does would take me 10-12 hours, and I'm happy to have that time back.
AI (like this world) tells you what you want to hear. It can be helpful through that lens. You also have to spend the time to train it on what you want—your likes, dislikes, and anything else that's pertinent to your work. Otherwise, what it produces will need a lot of editing.
People get into trouble asking AI deeply personal questions, or simply without context, and wondering why it responds in an undesirable way. I've learned that I benefit more from friends who disagree with me or at least challenge my thinking than from someone or something who just tells me what I want to hear.
Great perspective and practical AI insights. I think the greatest danger in using AI for spiritual content is what you called the lazy way.
If you wouldn't copy and paste from a Google search as your own writing, then why let AI write for you?
Use AI like any tool to enhance excellence and efficiency. But don't let AI use you!✌🏼
Love that take, thanks for sharing!
Joel, framing AI as a stewardship tool rather than a shortcut resonates deeply—your examples demonstrate how technology can free leaders to focus on meaningful engagement without compromising their core mission.
I'm glad it resonated, Petar!
This is such a thoughtful piece on integrating AI into human spiritual experience!
I really admire the care you took in reaching out, gathering perspectives, and presenting it all back so beautifully.
This is exactly what we need, not just using AI to make life easier, but engaging with it consciously, with an awareness of its limits.
I agree, it makes me more hopeful of the future. Thanks!
Great practical insight and tips. I use a variety of AI tools for better productivity. I actually like Claude.ia over ChatGPT. But both are great tools.
Yes Claude is great! That shows me you’re pretty AI savvy! I look forward to learning more from your content, RJ.
Comprehension and encouraging. Thanks for providing steps for entering this landscape.
Just glad it is helpful!
Yes! Thanks for reading!
Joel, I found it insightful and I'm excited to read your earlier post. Thanks for thoughtfully approaching this subject!
This is incredibly timely. I was just talking to somebody about using AI who is a pastor and how they could potentially benefit. And I passed this article on to them. Have a great rest of your week, Joel.
Glad to hear, @Bette A. Ludwig, PhD 🌱 !
Thanks for this excellent, comprehensive and balanced article on AI in ministry, Joel! Excellent work!
Thanks, Kevin! I appreciate you adding your wisdom to this piece.
Very interesting!! I see AI fingerprints in my own church as well -- from sermon titles, to graphics, just like your research described! Curious to follow what this looks like in other industries!
That's great to hear! Thanks for sharing!
Very beneficial to our community!
Thank you, Dr Steve.
Joel this has some transferable core principles that all entrepreneurs can use. Thanks for putting it together. All leaders can use some spirituality, and i liked the thoughtful tool usage thingy you shared. I resonated with the false choice problem and you serve a good reminder here :)
Glad to hear, Chintan! I'd love to hear about your usage of AI, specifically in business, sometime for that breakdown!
Oh for sure. I am thinking of sharing what i tried in ai kind of posts :) Will share the first one soon!
I look forward to reading them!
So grateful for this perspective. I've been using AI in similar always and always have the twinge of guilt or shame from those who condemn it, but from the beginning the key for me has been to stay in control of it... to keep my voice front and center and verify sources.
I have found it can be a good conversation partner to help me refine or develop ideas I already had, but you have to talk back to it a bit, challenge it when it pushes too far and starts to dilute your voice and intent. That's the fun part.
I love the prompts you offer in this post. One other use I've found is to help customize liturgical elements around particular themes or scriptures. It can stay true to various liturgical forms from your own denomination resources and adapt the content to fit the theme for the week. Great for calls to worship, benediction, etc.
My two key rules are:
1. Start with my own work and voice first.
2. End with my own voice and work. In other words, I don't just copy anything directly from AI without a final layer of human refinement.
Very helpful post and I'm saving it for reference. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your own helpful prompt, Craig! That's the key, understanding that like social media, internet, live streaming, these tools are amoral and can either amplify your mission or distract you from it. It is about having a balance and a plan. I love to see that you have a great plan! I look forward to learning more from your content!
Good work Joel. Thanks for reaching out and hope this generates good discussion and engagement
Thank you, I enjoyed putting it together and trust it will be a useful tool to amplify the impact of many.
You highlighted an issue I struggled with when I first started using AI, which is, AI is not the answer to every problem.
And it’s more of your prompt format I want to try out. That is listing out the instructions in one single prompt.
That’s excellent advice, Tope! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this.
A great read. Lead with discernment and prayer in any endeavor, be wise and create guard rails. Never replace the authentic self and Gods presence with the leanings and outputs of a tool you are meant to use to enhance, not replace your doctrinal mission.
Enhance, not replace, that's the key, and keeping what's most important at the center.
Thanks for your insights, Joel.
I use AI to do the grunt work of developing content. When the idea for the post comes, AI acts as a research assistant and proofreader. The work it does would take me 10-12 hours, and I'm happy to have that time back.
AI (like this world) tells you what you want to hear. It can be helpful through that lens. You also have to spend the time to train it on what you want—your likes, dislikes, and anything else that's pertinent to your work. Otherwise, what it produces will need a lot of editing.
People get into trouble asking AI deeply personal questions, or simply without context, and wondering why it responds in an undesirable way. I've learned that I benefit more from friends who disagree with me or at least challenge my thinking than from someone or something who just tells me what I want to hear.