In this series, I consider briefly several long-term trajectories impacting followers of Jesus that yield anti-intellectualism and biblical ignorance. I outline the schism between revelation and reason, consumerism, the technological tsunami, and evangelical spirituality. I conclude with a profile of insipid intellectuality among many Christians today.

Social Media
Last year in Nicaragua, I preached on the theme “One Thing Necessary,” dealing with the critical importance of listening to Jesus in the Word. At one point I asked, “What is the greatest distraction to heeding God’s voice today?” Immediately, a mother reached over and raised the arm of her teenage daughter, to her great chagrin. What was in her hand? A smart phone. The girl was scrolling in church.

Do you know the average cell phone usage worldwide? Five hours a day. It is often higher among youth. So, let’s do the math: five hours a day is 35 hours a week, 140 hours a month, 1,680 hours a year, and in forty years, a total of 67,200 hours. Imagine explaining this enormous waste of time and mental energy, as well as the distorted perception acquired, to St. Peter when we arrive at the pearly gates of heaven!

One expert, Tristan Harris, argues that social media was the precursor to AI. Social media is addictive and manipulative, and promotes tribalism. AI evidences the same behavior, only much more effectively. Metaphorically, social media is to AI what John the Baptist was for Jesus.

Functionally, therefore, I believe that we have already lost the war for the mind of those who sit in our pews. We have been colonized and discipled with ideas, habits, and values antithetical to the biblical worldview. Most of those who attend church come with their phones on and they glance periodically. All of those who come have been watching and listening all week to messages telling how them to think and behave. And when they leave church, shortly after they exit the building, they consult their phones. So, apart from the work of God, it is unlikely that a mere sermon and emotive worship experience will change their lives intellectually. Their minds are captivated and polluted by stories different than the mission of God.

Artificial Intelligence
As much as social media is ubiquitous, AI will soon surpass all limits and expectations, especially since neither governments nor businesses are likely to rein in its development or regulate its use. There are too much money, glory, and power to gain.

An article on the BBC website today cites various studies analyzing the use of AI among young people. It reports that, “The studies show a huge number of parents have no idea what their kids are doing with AI. Some uses are mundane, but some teens use AI in ways their families will find alarming.”

The philosopher, Yuval Noah Harari and others, suggest that AI is not simply a very useful tool but an agent that can think and evolve. Experts do not know how it learns or how to control a device that will be vastly more intelligent than us. Add to this, the authoritarian desire to control AI’s power for nationalistic and economic agendas. We are witnessing―and even more experiencing― potentially cataclysmic impacts in almost every sphere of life and society in the near future.

For this reason, I believe that we must think very carefully, theologically and pastorally, about the coming technological tsunami. We should answer important existential and theological questions. For instance, what is the meaning of being the image of God in an age of autonomous superintelligence? How does AI affect discipleship and church? What does it mean to love God with the mind given the reality of AI?