By Filomena Antunes

Lately, I have found myself relying heavily on ChatGPT.

And when I say heavily, I mean heavily.

I ask it questions about everything. I use it to research things I am curious about, solve problems, find recipes, work on my family genealogy, help with technology, organize my thoughts, and answer whatever random question happens to wander into my head.

Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along without it.

Then something happened at church this past Sunday that made me look at my new habit a little differently. Pastor Aaron was speaking about our need for Jesus Christ. As I listened, a thought came to me that I couldn’t easily dismiss:

I know I need Jesus. But does the way I live each day reflect how much I know I need Him?

And then another thought followed, one that was a little more uncomfortable.

Am I as quick to turn to Jesus as I am to turn to ChatGPT?

That one stung a little.

If I know how much I need Jesus, why have I become so quick to turn to ChatGPT for everything?

Suddenly I found myself wondering whether there was a contradiction hiding somewhere in my enthusiasm for this remarkable technology.

Who Do I Ask First?

There is something almost irresistible about having a source of information available every hour of every day. I can type a question and receive an answer within seconds. I don’t have to make an appointment. I don’t have to wait until morning. I don’t even have to finish my coffee. That convenience can become a habit remarkably quickly.

Technology can give me information. It can help me organize ideas. It can even explain Scripture, history, science or genealogy. But it cannot give me faith.

It cannot forgive me. It cannot love me. It cannot redeem me.

And it certainly cannot replace Jesus Christ.

That is where I began to see that perhaps the real question isn’t, “Should I be using ChatGPT so often?” The better question is: “What am I asking ChatGPT to be?”

A Tool or a Substitute?

There is nothing inherently wrong with using a tool. Human beings have always created tools to extend what we can do. We invented books so knowledge could travel through generations. We created libraries, calculators, computers and search engines. Artificial intelligence is another extraordinary step in that long story.

But tools become dangerous when we quietly ask them to occupy a place they were never meant to occupy.

If I want to know how to fix something on my computer, asking ChatGPT makes perfect sense. If I want help deciphering an old Portuguese family letter, wonderful. If I need ideas for dinner, directions, or historical information, technology can be enormously useful. But there are other questions:

What should I do with my life? How should I forgive someone who hurt me? How do I find peace when I am frightened? What does God want from me?

Those questions reach beyond information. They reach into the soul.

And no matter how sophisticated artificial intelligence becomes, I don’t want to confuse an answer generated by a machine with the voice of God.

Is this the Contradiction?

Perhaps the contradiction isn’t that I use ChatGPT while believing in Jesus. Perhaps the contradiction would be trusting the creation of human intelligence more than the Creator who gave humanity intelligence in the first place.

That distinction matters.

ChatGPT can tell me about prayer. It cannot pray in my place.

It can explain the Bible. It cannot have faith for me.

It can describe grace. It cannot give me grace.

It can help me write about love. It cannot love me.

Jesus can.

And that realization changes the relationship. I don’t necessarily need to stop using technology. I simply need to remember its proper place. ChatGPT belongs among my tools.

Christ belongs at the center of my life.

We live in a world overflowing with information and starving for wisdom. Yet humanity doesn’t seem less anxious, divided, lonely or confused. Maybe information was never our greatest need. Maybe that is why the message of Christ remains so powerful in an age of extraordinary technology.

Jesus never promised merely to provide us with better information. He offered something infinitely deeper: relationship, forgiveness, hope, truth, purpose, love and eternal life.

So yes, I will probably continue asking ChatGPT far too many questions because I am curious and I enjoy learning. And frankly, having a place where I can ask almost anything is pretty amazing.

But Pastor Aaron’s sermon reminded me to occasionally stop typing. To close the screen. To pray.

And perhaps before asking artificial intelligence for an answer, to remember that some questions deserve to be carried first to God. Because there is a tremendous difference between knowing where to find information and knowing

whom to trust with your life.

ChatGPT may help me navigate the world. But Jesus is the one I want guiding my soul.

I need Him when I understand and when nothing makes sense.

I need Him in my joy, my fear, my mistakes, my regrets, my hopes and my uncertainty.

I need His forgiveness.

I need His grace.

I need His wisdom.

I need His presence.

And I need to remember that needing Jesus isn’t something reserved for a crisis. I need Him on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon when everything is perfectly fine. I need Him when I wake up in the morning. I need Him when I go to sleep. I need Him in all those unremarkable hours in between.

So Where Does ChatGPT Fit?

I don’t think my answer is to stop using ChatGPT. That would probably last about fifteen minutes anyway. Instead, maybe I need to put things back into their proper order.

ChatGPT can be a useful tool. Jesus cannot be reduced to one. There is an enormous difference.

I can ask ChatGPT to help me research my past. But Jesus knows my entire story.

I can ask ChatGPT what words mean. But Jesus gives meaning to my life.

I can ask ChatGPT for advice. But Christ is the one to whom I surrender my life.

I can close an app and walk away from it. I don’t ever want to walk away from Him.

So perhaps this isn’t really an article about artificial intelligence at all. It is a confession of sorts. I have discovered how easily I can become dependent upon something that gives me immediate answers. And that realization has forced me to examine where I place my trust. Maybe that is a good thing.

Because every once in a while, something ordinary holds up a mirror and allows us to see ourselves a little more clearly. ChatGPT happened to be my mirror. And what I saw wasn’t that I needed less technology, what I saw was that I needed Jesus more.