Justin R. LesterFounder & AI-Ministry Strategist, TheoXTech · Pastor. Professor. AI Strategist.

⚡ AI is the new Athens—and it's time to preach! ⚡

11 Apr 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:14

Justin R. Lester delivers a short, sermon-like YouTube message arguing that artificial intelligence functions as the modern equivalent of the idols Paul confronted in Athens (Acts 17). He warns that algorithms are treated as neutral authorities despite encoding values that disadvantage marginalized people, and he urges the Black church, preachers, thinkers, and builders to engage technology — calling for public critique, theological reflection, and principled participation in tech creation to pursue justice and liberation.

Chapters

AI is the new Athens. See, Paul stood at Athens and called out idols. So what are the idols of our time? In Acts 17, Paul walks through Athens and sees the idols. He doesn't run from them, but he studied them. He engages the culture. Then he says something powerful. He says, let me tell you all about the unknown God today. The idols aren't statues. They're algorithms. Artificial intelligence is shaping who gets hired, who gets healthcare, who gets seen, and who gets ignored. And just like the people in Athens, people are bowing to these systems without question. They say neutral. They say it's objective. They say it's just data. But let me tell you something. There's no such thing as a neutral tech. Every algorithm has a value system baked in. And if we're not at the table when it's built, we're the ones being left out. Or worse, we're being the ones targeted. So here's the Paul like move, if you will. We will walk into the tech space, we will observe what's going on, and then we will lift our voices and say, tech does not have the final say, but God is always the better. I believe the black church must be the voice. And this digital Mars hill called calling out injustice, naming what is broken, and casting a vision rooted in truth, rooted in liberation, and rooted in love. So, preachers, it's time to talk about AI from your pulpit. Thinkers. It's time to engage technology like theology and builders. It's time to code with conviction. Let's not run from Athens, let's preach it.