ai – I'm Just Saying

A Challenge to Urban Christian Workers, Pastors, Youth Leaders, and the Body of Christ

There are moments in history when God allows an incredible opportunity to stand before the Church—an opportunity for believers to step forward, be heard, engage the culture, and serve as ambassadors for Christ. I believe the emergence of artificial intelligence may be one of those moments.

Before you dismiss that statement, hear me out. From the day I became a professional youth development servant, I have constantly tried to push the envelope and expand our understanding of urban youth ministry and youth development. For far too long, particularly in many urban communities, youth ministry has been defined by pizza parties, recreational activities, summer camps, Bible studies, choir rehearsals, and trips. Don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things. Fellowship matters. Recreation matters. Bible study certainly matters. But our young people need more.

If we are serious about preparing the next generation to become Christian leaders and influencers, then we must help them develop critical-thinking skills, technological literacy, civic awareness, social responsibility, creativity, entrepreneurship, and the ability to engage the major issues shaping their world. We cannot prepare 21st-century young people for their future using only a 20th-century ministry model.

Jesus Did Not Avoid the World

When I read the New Testament, I do not see Jesus hiding from the culture around Him. I see Him engaging it. Jesus went into villages, homes, marketplaces, synagogues, streets, and public spaces. He talked with religious leaders, government officials, tax collectors, fishermen, women, the wealthy, the poor, the sick, and people pushed to the margins of society. He engaged the real questions affecting real people.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul did not restrict his ministry to places where everybody already agreed with him. In Acts 17, Paul entered Athens and encountered a culture filled with competing philosophies and religious ideas. He did not run from that environment. He engaged it. Acts 17:17 tells us that Paul reasoned with people not only in the synagogue but also “in the marketplace day by day.”

Then Paul stood at the Areopagus—the intellectual and philosophical center of Athens—and communicated the Gospel within the context of the ideas people were already debating. That sounds remarkably relevant to our present moment.

Where is today’s marketplace? Part of it is digital. It is social media. It is technology. It is science. And increasingly, it is artificial intelligence. If Paul were willing to walk into the intellectual marketplace of Athens, why should Christians be afraid to enter the technological marketplace of our generation?

Somebody may be asking, “Pastor, what in the world does artificial intelligence have to do with equipping the saints? My answer is: potentially, a great deal. Ephesians 4:11–12 teaches that God gives leaders to the Church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Equipping people for ministry cannot simply mean preparing them to function inside the four walls of a church building. We must also prepare believers to live faithfully, intelligently, and courageously in the world they actually inhabit.

Our students are growing up in a world where AI will increasingly intersect with education, employment, medicine, journalism, business, entertainment, transportation, government, communications, science, ministry, and everyday life. Therefore, the Church cannot afford to say, “That’s not our world.” It is already our world. The question is not simply whether Christians will use artificial intelligence. The deeper question is whether Christians will help shape the moral conversations surrounding it.

Think about the questions AI is already forcing society to consider. What does it mean to be human? What is truth? Who determines right and wrong? What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? How should human beings exercise power? How do we protect human dignity? What happens when technology can imitate human creativity? What responsibilities do corporations have when technology affects millions of people?m How do we protect children? What happens to workers whose jobs are changed or displaced? Who is accountable when automated systems cause harm? How do we prevent technology from widening the gap between wealthy communities and poor communities? These are not merely technological questions. They are ethical questions. And many are deeply theological questions. Scripture begins with an extraordinary declaration about humanity:

“So God created mankind in his own image.”
—Genesis 1:27

That biblical understanding of human dignity should give Christians something important to contribute to conversations about technology. Technology may imitate aspects of human communication, reasoning, creativity, and productivity, but Christians believe there is something fundamentally different about humanity: human beings bear the image of God. That conviction has implications for how we think about AI, human dignity, labor, education, justice, privacy, truth, power, and responsibility.

AI may provide access to enormous amounts of information. But information is not wisdom. Scripture says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” —Proverbs 9:10 A computer can process information at breathtaking speed. It can identify patterns, generate language, analyze data, and assist human beings in accomplishing remarkable tasks. But Christians should continually raise another question: Just because we can do something, should we?

That is where wisdom enters the conversation. James 1:5 says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God.” Imagine raising a generation of Christian young people who understand both technology and theology. Young people who can code and pray. Who can understand algorithms and Scripture.

Who can become scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, journalists, physicians, researchers, ethicists, pastors, designers, and technology executives—and carry a Christian understanding of justice, truth, compassion, stewardship, and human dignity into those professions. Why shouldn’t that be part of urban youth ministry?

Our children are entering a world dramatically different from the one many of us grew up in. Yet sometimes our ministry models have barely changed. We tell young people to put their phones away without teaching them how technology works. We warn them about social media without teaching them how algorithms influence what they see. We complain about AI without teaching them how to use it responsibly. We talk about careers without explaining how automation may transform those careers. We tell young people to become leaders but fail to introduce them to some of the most important conversations shaping their generation. That has to change. Proverbs 22:6 challenges us: “Train up a child in the way he should go.” Training must include preparation. It’s time to rethink this passage through the contextual lens of the 21st century. If the world our children are entering includes artificial intelligence, advanced technology, biotechnology, robotics, cybersecurity, data science, and other rapidly developing fields, then Christian youth development should help prepare them to enter those spaces with knowledge, confidence, character, and faith.

We should help our young people become creators, thinkers, researchers, entrepreneurs, developers, policymakers, ethicists, and leaders within it. Imagine churches partnering with universities and technology companies. Imagine church-based AI literacy workshops for teenagers and parents. Imagine Christian technology clubs. Imagine young people learning coding, robotics, journalism, media production, entrepreneurship, and AI while simultaneously discussing biblical ethics. Imagine pastors sitting at tables with engineers, scientists, educators, community organizers, entrepreneurs, and young people asking:vHow can technology serve humanity rather than humanity becoming a servant of technology? That is a conversation the Church should help lead. Ethics—and particularly biblical ethics—is a subject Christians must reclaim and boldly engage. Scripture calls us not merely to observe the moral debates of our culture, but to bring God’s truth, wisdom, justice, and love into them. Micah 6:8 calls us “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” If Christians are called to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–16), then we cannot surrender the conversation about ethics—especially as emerging technologies like artificial intelligence raise profound questions about human dignity, truth, justice, power, and responsibility.

That is an important era!. We don’t prepare young people for Christian adulthood by shielding them from every difficult idea. We prepare them by giving them a strong biblical foundation and teaching them how to think. How to discern. How to question. How to create. How to lead. How to serve.

And how to enter complicated spaces without forgetting who they are and Whose they are. Artificial intelligence is here. It will bring tremendous possibilities, serious ethical challenges, unforeseen consequences, and questions we have not even imagined yet. The Church should be present for those conversations. And our young people should be prepared to help lead them. This is not the time for the Body of Christ to run from technology. This is the time to understand it. This is the time to question it. This is the time to help establish ethical boundaries around it. This is the time to prepare our children to create with it. This is the time to advocate for communities that could otherwise be left behind by it. This is the time to raise Christian scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, theologians, ethicists, educators, and innovators. This is the time to send ambassadors for Christ into places where Christians have too often been absent. And perhaps, just perhaps, God has allowed this technological moment not simply for the Church to react to— but for the Church to help shape.

A Final Challenge

Pastors, youth workers, parents, educators, and Christian leaders: don’t be intimidated by what you don’t yet understand. Learn. Ask questions. Bring young people into the conversation. Find Christians already working in technology and science and invite them into your ministry. Build partnerships. Create opportunities. And most importantly, teach our children that their faith does not have to end where science and technology begin. Send them into those spaces. Jesus said: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” —John 20:21 Church, this is not the time to retreat.

It’s time to send them.

Once again, government officials have dug a hole for Black children that will be nearly impossible to climb out of—and the fault lies with adults, not students.

To the legislators who supported Michigan House Bill 4141 and Senate Bill 495, and to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for signing them into law: be ashamed. Your decision to restrict the use of cell phones in K–12 public schools during instructional time has not helped our children—it has harmed them.

You may have created a barrier so deep that too many Black students will never recover.

A Divide That Already Exists

Before this law, our students were already behind. Michigan’s own data shows that more than 70% of Black school-age children lack reliable access to the internet or a computer at home. Without broadband access, without devices, without digital resources, Black students in Detroit and across the state are cut off from 21st-century learning. Now you have widened that gap even further.

This is the digital divide—not some abstract concept but a lived reality that shapes educational opportunity, economic mobility, and life outcomes for thousands of children.

You Have Deepened the Opportunity Gap

Let’s be clear: the issue with cell phones in the classroom isn’t inherently about discipline or distraction. It’s about access to tools and the lack of instruction on how to use them effectively. Banning technology that students already use, that they carry everywhere, is not a solution. It is a regression.

In true American fashion, when we don’t master something, we shun it. We demonize it. But our children live in a world defined by digital connectivity—whether educators like it or not. Until our pedagogical methods evolve, Black students will continue to be educated by a system rooted in the past.

Education Must Catch Up With the Times

Education in many classrooms today remains didactic—unchanged since ancient Greek academies. But students today are not passive learners; they are active, digitally connected, and they thrive in environments that are hands-on, interactive, and technology-enabled.

There are proven tools—Learning Management Systems like Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and others—that integrate cell phones and digital devices into teaching. Teachers can use students’ phones as instructional tools for research, collaboration, and real-time learning. Yet rather than harnessing technology, we choose to restrict it.

The New Educational Underclass

By banning phones without addressing access and digital literacy, we are creating a new educational underclass—led not by malicious actors, but by well-intentioned adults who are afraid to embrace innovation.

But responsibility doesn’t stop with legislators.

Other culprits include:

Academic schools of education (colleges and universities) that train teachers in outdated methods.
A public education system driven by middle-class professionals disconnected from the realities of urban Black children.
Community influencers and parents who aren’t grounded in the neighborhoods they claim to serve.
And most troubling, a system that ignores the voice of the very people it is supposed to uplift: Black children in Detroit.

A Call to Action

Governor Whitmer. Michigan state legislators. Suburban educators.

We can be intimidated by change — or we can lead it.

Let’s reverse this curse.

While children in suburban districts walk into classrooms equipped with tablets, laptops, iPads, and an ecosystem of technological support, more than 70% of Black children in Detroit come with nothing to augment or fully participate in this technological era. That is not a discipline issue. That is an equity issue.

We have a powerful opportunity before us: to reformulate classroom experiences into environments that are engaging, interactive, and relevant to the way today’s students actually learn.

Two years ago, we implemented Learning Management Systems (LMS) into our core curriculum. The results have been nothing short of transformational. Each day begins with a dynamic, interactive module reviewing the previous day’s lesson. Students are not passive listeners — they are active participants.

While we have not conducted a formal academic study, I am confident enough to suggest that student retention is at or above 90–95%. Students are not only recalling content — they are internalizing it. They talk about it. They apply it. They retain it.

Can you imagine a classroom environment where over 90% retention becomes the norm rather than the exception?

Instead of banning tools, let’s study how to effectively integrate innovative technology into classroom settings. Let’s listen to our children. Let’s collaborate with educators on the front lines. Let’s empower teachers with the training, resources, and tools required for the digital era. And most importantly, let’s address device access and connectivity not as luxuries — but as educational equity issues.

The future is not waiting for us to get comfortable. The future is demanding, now is the time, and I’m just saying.

Tag: ai

This Is Not the Time to Be Afraid of AI