From Doom and Gloom to Opportunity
Why the Church Can't Afford to Ignore This
I admit it… I am not a glass half full type of a guy. I’m a… the glass is 100% full and it’s full of COFFEE! I am an eternal optimist and when challenges present themselves, I can’t help but see a world of opportunities.
Yesterday’s post focused on the doom and glom over the future of work: the predicted elimination of entry-level jobs, the cultural disruption that could follow, and the speed with which AI is changing everything.
I admit — it was a bit of a downer. So… I decided to rush a follow-up full of opportunities.
Today, I want to shift the lens. Because while the AI revolution is absolutely disruptive, it also creates profound opportunities — especially for churches, for missions, and faith-based nonprofits that are willing to rethink, retool, and reimagine how they do their role in this moment.
AI Opens New Doors for Ministry
Throughout history, every technological shift has reshaped how we work, but also how we witness. The printing press. The radio. The internet. Each one had its doomsayers — and yet each one was ultimately used to spread the gospel messag.
AI is no different. Here’s where I believe churches and ministries can seize the moment:
1. Global Reach Like Never Before
AI-powered translation, video dubbing, and real-time text generation are tearing down language and cultural barriers at scale. Currently, these all still require human in the loop (and likely will for the foreseable future), but it can cut production time and costs by 90%. Ministries that once needed years and millions in funding to go global can now do it on a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection.
What used to require a full production team can now be done with a small, Spirit-led group and the right tools.
Cultural adaptation of materials is faster than ever before. Social media distribution means that digital first distribution is a reality. We must embrace iterative approaches which accellerate the mission.
2. Micro-Ministry, Mega Impact
Small teams can punch far above their weight by integrating AI into their workflows. Previously, teams needed an army of specialists to deploy solutions. The back and forth required months (years). To innovators, it felt like we were on the Titanic, saw what was coming, but had no way to move large organizations.
You don’t need a hundred specialists. You need vision and a willingness to experiment.
Small, agile teams are able to do things that required enormous budgets and staffs in the past. Today, automation means more is possible with fewer resources. To small teams, especially national teams, the cost barrier to entry was previously often too high. This meant that large (mostly western) organizations dominated direction and decision making.
3. New Frontiers for Evangelism
People are asking questions — online, anonymously, and constantly. Humans, augmented with AI chatbots trained in sound theology and built for cultural engagement can meet people where they are - online, offering truth in places the Church has struggled to reach.
The harvest is plentiful — and now, so are the entry points.
4. Redeeming the Disrupted
As industries evolve, many people will feel lost, disoriented, and discarded. The Church can offer more than sympathy — we can offer structure, identity, authenticity, and a redefinition of purpose. We can build training programs that prepare people for AI-augmented work while also grounding them in eternal truths.
What if the church seized the opportunity to not just provide life skills, what if in the process, we help them find their calling.
This is an OPPORTUNITY
The AI revolution is not just a challenge to endure. It’s an opportunity to minister. I started this post out by readily admitting that my wiring means that I can’t help but see opportunities in the challenges. We should approach these challenges by asking, what if questions…
What if the church spent as much time using AI for Kingdom purposes as we spend worrying about the impact of AI?
What if we equipped Christians with AI tools for Kingdome purposes?
What if we helped Christians use AI to better prepare for the missional aspects of what God is calling us to do?
What if AI helped us identify patterns of spiritual openness in digital spaces — and sent believers into those spaces the same way Paul was physically sent to Macedonia?
What if churches used AI to better understand their neighborhoods and the people they serve?
What if AI helped us multiply our best teachers, evangelists, and disciple-makers — not replace them, but multiply their wisdom for others?
What if we viewed every disruptive tool not as a threat to tradition, but as a bridge to those we’ve yet to reach?
These “What If’s” are opportunities. They’re today’s possibilities — if we’re willing to move possibility. But we have to move fast. We can’t spend the next few years debating this. We can’t send this to committees that will never make a decision. What are your “What If” opportunities that you see?
How might we?
What mission could your church or nonprofit accomplish if language and resource barriers were no longer issues?
Are you raising up disciples who know how to live and lead in an AI-powered world?
How can your ministry use AI to serve others, not just survive disruption?
What might it look like to treat AI not as a threat to the Church — but as a catalyst for the next Great Awakening?
What next?
I close with this…
Christians that see AI only as a threat will retreat.
Christians that see AI as a tool will adapt.
But Christians that see AI as a missional opportunity — these Christians that will lead a new path full of possibilities.
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Don, this is exactly what we're doing at The Apologist Project (https://apologistproject.org). We come alongside ministries to collaborate on building conversational AIs that cater to their use cases and augment their existing digital funnels. We met at Missional AI. I'll shoot you an email.