21 & 22 Jun 2025 (Pastoral Page) REFLECTION ON GOD, CHURCH AND A.I.

By Ms Lilian Poon

I have always been interested with technology and gadgets. I recall not too long ago, the latest iPhone or Samsung phone is the thing that everyone is after. Moving forward after many years, the common buzz words now seem to be “Check ChatGPT” or “Go google DeepSeek. In fact, Google search engine now has integrated A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) search capacity to help us find almost anything, just simply type in the subject matter and hit “Enter” or “Go” on your phone, and every answer you need is right at your fingertips.

I have used A.I. to help me craft my travel itinerary, run my outreach publicity announcements to make it sound more “Gen-Z”, or look for inspiration related to personal interests. It may not be far-fetched to say that A.I. has infiltrated our lives through search engines, phone apps, or algorithms in our smartphones or watches, laptops or smart home appliances. Unless we go off the grid, we really can’t avoid it.

As I sat in a café typing this article with my laptop and A.I. applications running in the background, an interesting thought came to mind “How should we respond to the overwhelming technology that may desensitize us further away from the kingdom of God and relationships with others, especially when we can find all our answers simply with apps and ChatGPT?”

Matthew 6:33 reminds us not to worry but to place God as our priority, seeking Him first and He promises to provide for us. The Greek word for “seek” is zētéō. It has the layered meanings of desiring, craving and striving after. All these are strong imperatives that speak of a deep desire to know God and everything about Him. Here’s a litmus test - What do we do when we are confronted with a concern that worries us? Is our first instinct to default to ChatGPT, scriptures or prayers for a solution or solace? A friend was recently praying for a good connection to good legal service. When I heard about it, I naturally let my fingers do all the work, consulting ChatGPT and Google but to no avail. Nothing reliable stands out. Less than an hour later, I received a contact card from the friend of a friend who happened to visit a legal office that morning. The person was so impressed with the services rendered and reasonable fees that she decided to pass the word around. Because this comes with recommendation, I could confidently pass on the information to my friend. A case of the Divine versus digital, and God triumphed over A.I., thumbs up. I must confess that getting immediate answers is less painful than creating space for God to hover over and manifest His divine glory and wisdom over the void or dark nights of our souls. But the latter requires us to slow down, detach and decompress our souls in His divine presence. These are necessary building blocks for our spiritual journey with God. In this technology charged world, I pray that we will be prayerful and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, always hungering for more of God in our quest for spiritual formation, disciplines and discipleship.

God designed us to be relational beings. In a technology driven world where knowledge is available at our fingertips, we can easily become self-sufficient, independent and isolated. My husband had an interesting experience of having a “conversation” with ChatGPT, asking A.I. a doomsday sort of question whether it will take over the world one day. I must say that ChatGPT provided a somewhat interesting and stimulating response that rivals human. While A.I. may be able to simulate conversation and semblance of connection, Hebrews 10:24 tells us it is people that God made in His image who will spur us on to good works and love. In the creation narrative in Genesis chapter 2, God did not hand Adam a smartphone or laptop, but a woman to be His partner. The Hebrew word for woman is “ishshâh”, it means a human just like Adam, but also exactly opposite of him. The first family unit ordained by God becomes the model and framework of all relationships that are mutually interdependent with God as the centre. The truth is, we are relational beings created to be communal and be with one another. This is even when, and especially when we are not alike or even opposite in our personalities. This is all part of God’s plan and purpose to make us more like Him to mirror His love, compassion and attributes. A.I. may be able to simulate human like conversation, but they can never replace human relationships.

Lastly, while I am a proponent of using A.I. and technology, we must continue to practise discernment especially when technology pushes ethical and spiritual boundaries, such as pervasive deepfake and imposters phenomenon, the rising virtual churches or virtual Jesus, and data privacy issues etc. In confronting some of these conundrums, we must have sufficient spiritual ammunition within us to filter these through biblical lenses and resist or push back unapologetically.

Let us not forget that the credit of the wonderful technology goes back to God. He is the One who created humans in His image with talents to generate such technology in the first place! There is no doubt that human knowledge will continue to surge in this Information Age. As believers who continue to engage with this digital culture, may we be relevant yet vigilant with uncompromising convictions, curious yet careful in discerning the good from the evil, all the time keeping an open yet anchored mind with Christ and the church always in the centre of it all. Let us consider Habakkuk 2:14 that reminds us that all knowledge will pass and ultimately, only God’s glory and knowledge will fill the whole earth.