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“A California pastor named Justin Lester has built a digital twin of himself using nearly 2 million words from his sermons, books, and other messages. The artificial intelligence–generated clone offers counsel around the clock to hundreds of people in Vallejo, a city in the Bay Area.” - CToday

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Discussion

Wed, 10/07/26

Seems more relevant than ever…

5 Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. (Prov 4:5-7)

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

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Wed, 10/07/26

While, what Justin did is a bit stupid, there are a few stretches this article is making:

"Christians should not be receiving pastoral guidance from technology that won’t give an account for their souls."

Christians have been receiving guidance from technology for a long time, whether that is books or other means. This is nothing new. AI stretches it farther, but not as extreme as is sometimes documented. In addition, it is doubtful that Justin's congregation is actually using this and instead more of the broader population in the Bay Area. The pastor is responsible for giving an account to the souls of their congregation. My guess is that Justin is a techie kind of guy, saw a unique opportunity to do something with the technology, thought it was a bit cool, but didn't think through it.

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