“Wicked—I’m using a strong word because I feel strongly about this,” Piper said. “This goes to the heart of God and the meaning of Christianity and the integrity of the church and her ministers.”
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“Neither God nor his people speak in a way so as to bring about in the minds of other people thoughts that are not true about us or what we say or feelings in them that are not appropriate about us,” Piper continued. “That is, we do not deceive. We are people of truth and transparency and honesty through and through, or we are nothing.”
“So, my answer: No, don’t have ChatGPT write your newsletter,” Piper said. “Don’t do it, unless you’re going to put in clear letters at the top, ‘This newsletter was created by ChatGPT.’ That’s honest, and your supporters won’t like it.”
“And second, no, don’t have ChatGPT write the first draft of your sermon, which you then check, adjust, and customize,” Piper went on to say. “Frankly, I’m appalled at the thought—appalled.”
Piper acknowledged that “resources and websites have existed forever to help pastors cut corners—create your outlines, provide illustrations, tell you how to do research, and so on.” He added that these resources have always “been appalling” to him.
Piper argued that one of the chief qualifications of a pastor is to “have the ability, the gift, to read a passage of Scripture, understand the reality it deals with, feel the emotions it is meant to elicit, be able to explain it to others clearly, illustrate and apply it for their edification.”
“That’s a gift you must have,” he reiterated. “It’s your No. 1 job. If you don’t have it, you should not be a pastor.”
Nevertheless, Piper did not rule out the use of AI tools like ChatGPT entirely.
“Let’s use ChatGPT and other sources that are coming along for information, even for inspiration, just like you use commentaries and articles and books and songs and poetry,” Piper said. “But don’t use it for composition unless you’re going to give credit for it.”
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“So, if you’re going to have ChatGPT write your first draft and you’re going to tweak it, then you better say to your people, ‘ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, has composed the Word of God for you this morning,’” he concluded.