When we peel back the layers of opposition we face in ministry, we often find something nasty and dark disguised within ourselves, calling out for “innocent clout,” legitimate influence, or ministerial camaraderie, but is it really just that we want to be liked?
AI is only ever a tool. The power of the gospel remains in the message itself and the Spirit’s life-giving work in human hearts.
He carried a knightly spirit, expansive in presence, yet gentle in manner, his manner free of the aloofness common among intellectuals. I knew immediately: this was the mentor I had been seeking.
I used a soccer match as an analogy for forming effective teamwork in an outreach program for delivering holistic blessings to the community. The ministry can be initiated by a faith-based non-profit with church members joining the endeavor.
Like every technological advancement before it, AI presents both opportunities and threats—to society at large, and to the church. Balancing those requires divine wisdom and discernment.
God also moved me to become a channel of the gospel to my family, friends, classmates, childhood companions, and even strangers I meet.
When grand narratives no longer serve as the backdrop for self-definition, the question of how an individual can better become themselves arises.
Though Chinese house churches experience ongoing and intensifying restrictions, they have begun to develop sending structures to support cross-cultural missionaries. Even churches that have been forced to close are still finding ways to support missionaries that they have sent.
Is AI a threat to be feared, a tool to be leveraged, or both? How do we embrace its potential for the great commission without compromising the integrity of our message or the essence of our humanity?
How may the perverted order of humanity mirrored in AI be rectified and restored? It is at this point that we are motivated to explore how God’s grace can enable us to perform the image of God with our ectype, that is, AI.
AI will not replace humans in tasks that demand creativity, generalizability, and abstraction. In most scenarios, AI will serve as an enabling tool to assist humans in decision-making.
This new ChinaSource Journal issue focusing on AI comes at an important time, where the practical benefits of AI are being weighed against important ethical and theological issues that come with every new technology.