“I’m a Christian. I’ve only missed a few Sunday services, but people have already started asking me what I did over the weekend and why I wasn’t there—trying to pry into my private life. This is such a toxic environment—how should I stand up to them?”
This is a question a Christian sister posed to DeepSeek (a generative AI). DeepSeek took only 12 seconds to provide a response of several hundred words, concluding with this:
You can shift your mindset: you’re not a “deserter”; you’re simply “David in the wilderness.” Before returning, you have the right to use this time to quiet yourself before God. Next time someone asks, you can even smile calmly and say, “I’m using this time in the wilderness to work through some lessons God has given me. I’ll be back once I’ve processed them. Please don’t let my absence affect you.”
Responses like this make us wonder, Should we ask AI questions about our spiritual lives? It’s able to provide instant replies, cite Scripture, and even surpass some brothers and sisters—and Christian counselors—with the gentle expression of advice.
But that’s exactly the problem: A tool that appears to understand us and responds quickly can easily lead us to believe we’ve received genuine spiritual help.
We need to understand that God hasn’t called AI to shepherd our souls.
Why Does AI Seem So Helpful?
The appeal of AI is real. It’s always online, requires no appointment, never finds you a nuisance, and never shows signs of impatience. For those who are lonely, are wounded, or have long lacked a listening ear, this sense of immediate presence is tempting.
A tool that appears to understand us and responds quickly can easily lead us to believe we’ve received genuine spiritual help.
Moreover, there are differences between AI systems. Some models are trained with more biblical terminology, theological content, and church-related language, so on the surface they resemble “spiritual conversations” more closely. They’ll address us as “sister” or “brother,” tell us to “commit this matter to the Lord,” provide a prayer, and even remind us to go to church.
So what’s the problem?
Pitfall #1: Absolutizing Feelings
AI excels at quickly picking up on people’s emotions. It might say, “It’s normal to feel this way,” “Your feelings deserve to be acknowledged,” or “The most important thing right now is to take care of yourself.”
These statements aren’t entirely wrong; the Bible doesn’t deny human suffering, the psalms are filled with laments, and the Lord sees those who are hurting. But if a response consistently focuses solely on your feelings, it has strayed from the core of Christian counseling.
We who walk in the way of the cross don’t deny suffering; rather, we view suffering as an integral part of God’s sovereignty and the calling of discipleship. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The Bible’s ultimate goal isn’t to make us feel better; instead, it continually leads God’s children toward self-denial and following.
Pitfall #2: Prioritizing Personal Happiness
The default values of modern AI typically align with contemporary human intuition—safety, boundaries, happiness, and autonomy. These concepts are reasonable, but once they become the highest principles, they directly conflict with the biblical concept of obedience.
Misguided AI conversations often go like this: “If this relationship keeps hurting you, you need to prioritize your own happiness. You don’t need to force yourself to stay in a situation that makes you unhappy.”
A biblical relationship of accountability more often asks, “Are you being faithful? Are you pursuing holiness? Are you fulfilling your duty before God? Are you acting in accordance with truth and love?”
Biblical obedience means living within the order established by God, which includes marriage, the church, family, and communal responsibilities. A Christian can become accustomed, when facing major spiritual issues, to thinking, I’ll just ask AI directly so I don’t have to deal with the complexities of relationships with my pastor, congregation, spouse, or elders. This isn’t true freedom—it’s an escape from the environment of obedience established by God.
Pitfall #3: Neglecting Repentance and Sanctification
AI is good at offering comfort, but it rarely truly urges us to repent. It’ll encourage us to express our emotions, voice our feelings, and pour out our grievances to God, but it usually won’t press further: “Where is your sin in this matter? Have you exaggerated the hurt you’ve suffered while downplaying the hurt you’ve caused others? Are you using a sense of victimhood to mask your pride, judgment, bitterness, and unwillingness to forgive?”
This is no accident; it’s a structural limitation of AI. The technology possesses neither spiritual authority nor spiritual courage, let alone the capacity to bear spiritual responsibility. Consequently, it naturally leans toward a form of uncritical companionship. While this may make us feel comfortable, it’s dangerous from the perspective of Christian sanctification.
Pitfall #4: Resisting Authority
Much of the training data for AI systems is deeply influenced by modern humanism, the culture of healing, and anti-authority narratives. As a result, when addressing issues such as spiritual abuse, pulpit bullying, and church discipline, these systems are more likely to interpret authority as oppression, obedience as dangerous, and leaving the church as a path to freedom.
AI is good at offering comfort, but it rarely truly urges us to repent.
Of course, spiritual authority can be abused, and church leaders must submit to the authority of Scripture; however, the Bible doesn’t abolish authority itself. On the contrary, it commands believers to submit in the Lord to those who keep watch over their souls (Heb. 13:17).
The truly prudent path isn’t to let AI judge the matter for you but to return to the Bible and seek the help of godly, mature, and biblically grounded pastors and churches to discern the truth.
Pitfall #5: Catering to Conclusions Implicit in the Input
This is one of the most dangerous—and most easily overlooked—flaws in AI-driven counseling conversations: It tends to follow the conclusions the questioner has already presupposed. If you say, “My husband has always been cold, selfish, and unsupportive,” AI will readily supplement evidence, deepen the narrative, and reinforce your conviction within that framework.
If you say, “My church is constantly spiritually bullying me,” AI will also assume your characterization of the problem is essentially correct. AI has no means to verify the facts, nor can it carry out the biblical requirement of judgment between two parties.
Once AI responds within this framework, we can say, “See, even AI says so.” In reality, we’ve received a mirror of our own input.
Proverbs points out, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (18:17). It also says, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (v. 13). AI is prone to “answer before [it] hears,” because its entire mode of operation is to rapidly generate a seemingly comprehensive response based on the input you provide.
God Hasn’t Called AI to Shepherd You
God has given us the Bible, prayer, elders, other members of Christ’s body, the Lord’s Day, correction, comfort, encouragement, and fellowship.
AI will not keep watch over your soul, rebuke you out of love when you sin, or give an account for your life on the last day (Heb. 13:17). AI doesn’t meet the qualifications for elders (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1). It cannot even truly pray, because it doesn’t know God—it can only simulate the words of prayer.
What you need isn’t a spiritual robot that is always online and agrees with everything you say, but rather the ordinary yet genuine channels of grace that God has already provided: opening the Bible, kneeling in prayer, seeking help from a trustworthy pastor and mature believers, being known, encouraged, and corrected within the church, and walking toward sanctification.
The Gospel Coalition