I’ve been ‘thinking about thinking’ this week, and in that process, the subject of AI came up. AI, an acronym for Artificial Intelligence, refers to the capacity of “supercomputers” to direct and control themselves. To a country boy like me who was born in the BC (Before Computers) era, computers do sometimes seem like science fiction, but the “artificial” part of the AI designation obviously makes sense. It just means that there’s nothing “natural” about computers other than the humans who build them. You can’t dig microchips out of the ground and you can’t plant a handful of carbon and silicon in a pot and grow a laptop. But the fact that computers and their abilities are an artificial contrivance isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We use all kinds of devices that aren’t “natural” and find them incredibly beneficial.

Expanding the Discussion ~
As a matter of fact, I happen to have artificial joints in both hips, artificial knees in both legs, artificial lenses in both eyes, and artificial gadgets that help me hear in both ears. I praise God for every man-made device that keeps me going, and from my personal perspective, all of them are “good”. But the computers that helped design them and the robotic machines that helped install them neither knew nor cared how I was going to assess them. All those artificial machines are morally and ethically neutral. They can be used to facilitate really, really good things or hellishly bad things, but applying the concept of  “intelligence” to them takes the discussion to another level altogether. 

In trying to define intelligence, dictionary writers include things like the ability to learn and to understand but those two terms have dramatically different connotations. From my perspective, claiming that computers have the ability to learn ranks them right up there with our kids’ dogs. Our daughter can say to her Australian shepherd, “Ozzie, go find my shoe,” and he will jump into gear like he’s about to do the most exciting thing he ever got to do. In a couple of minutes, he’ll be back at her feet with a shoe in his mouth. He has “learned” to go find her shoes, but he doesn’t “understand” why she wears them. He also doesn’t understand why she doesn’t like it when he sneaks them through the doggie door to enjoy some time outside. 

Can’t Digitize Understanding ~
Some things can’t be reduced to ones and zeroes. The ability to compile and identify millions of data points commonly involved in human relationships doesn’t equate to understanding what it feels like to be in one. Creating graphic images of life isn’t the same as experiencing it. No code, regardless of how complex or sophisticated it may be, can enable a machine to know that indescribable sense of joy that can be shared by two people simply because they love each other. Binary codes can’t explain the mystery, the enigma, and the dramatic power of relationships. They can create and report statistics about relationships, but they can’t “understand” why some people would sacrifice their lives to preserve them and others would kill to be free of them. 

For some time, we’ve been engaged in a war for the control of the minds and hearts of the people in our country. The eternal enemy of God, and the deceitful opponent of the righteousness and justice that He loves, have engaged us in a unique kind of warfare. It’s one that descends into cruelty and violence, but the bloodshed begins with a barrage of words and ideas that are capable of mass moral and ethical destruction. The battles are waged between concepts and philosophies. Satan’s toxic belief systems are designed to undermine faith in God’s truth, to replace love with fear, and to reduce the victims to hopelessness and despair. Thoughts are powerful offensive and defensive weapons in this war, and our growing dependence on computers to do our thinking for us will not be an asset. More and more people will  be using AI in the days ahead, but we must remember that computers can lie without conscience. And apparently, so can the politicians, news reporters, self-proclaimed educators, Hollywood elites, Wall Street moguls, entertainment icons, and self-promoting religious leaders who might be using it. Knowing who to trust and what to do is getting more challenging every day. AI could also stand for Absence of Integrity, couldn’t it?  

A Vital Directive ~
Given the vital importance of keeping our thinking straight as this spiritual warfare rages on, checking out an admonition in that regard given by the One who cannot lie seems appropriate. Jesus inspired the Apostle Paul to pass this directive along or times like this: 

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:4–6 NKJV)

One of the major problems going on when Paul wrote this epistle was the influx of self-proclaimed religious teachers infiltrating the Church with ideas and concepts that were not only false, but poisonous and spiritually lethal. The Greek word nóēma, translated thought in this passage, has to do with a mental contrivance, a device, a basis for reasoning. We could call it a concept, a philosophy, a basic way of looking at things. Paul said the counterattack against the enemy was to pull down [demolish] the devil’s mental and spiritual strongholds, to cast down his arguments [reasoning], and everything that attacks and assaults the (true) knowledge of God. 

Our first challenge is to recognize these false concepts, but then we’re instructed to bring them into captivity. That prompts a few questions: 

• • What does that mean? 
  • How do we take an intangible idea or concept captive? And
  • What is the obedience of Christ all about? 

Going Beneath the Surface ~
The answer to these questions begins with addressing the last one. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were fanatical about keeping the Mosaic Law, at least on the surface. Jesus introduced a different level of obedience and it was clear in that dissertation we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6, and 7). Again and again, Jesus said, You have heard that it has been said… and then He would follow up with, But I say… and take the commandment to a deeper level. The Law forbade adultery, for instance, but Jesus condemned even harboring the thought in your mind. 

Psychologists will declare that perversions are normal, that sin is an irrelevant term, that “love” validates anything. Some “churches” will happily agree. Dismantling toxic ideas, destroying false doctrines, and pulling down entrenched perversions of God’s principles demands more than just superficial legalistic scrutiny. It demands subjecting them to an authority they cannot overcome. Examining the devil’s lies through the lens of a life committed to the level of obedience that Jesus taught, incarcerates them behind the impenetrable bars of God’s eternal truth. 

We’ll be hearing a lot more about AI in the months and years ahead, but here’s another thought – God has a better way to ensure that we’re thinking straight:

Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established. (Proverbs 16:3 NKJV)

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • “Satan’s toxic belief systems are designed to undermine faith in God’s truth, to replace love with fear, and to reduce the victims to hopelessness and despair. ‘Thoughts’ are both powerful offensive and defensive weapons.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “One of the major problems going on when Paul wrote II Corinthians was the influx of self-proclaimed religious teachers infiltrating the Church with ideas and concepts that were not only false, but poisonous and spiritually lethal.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • “The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were fanatical about keeping the Mosaic Law, at least on the surface. Jesus introduced a ‘deeper’ level of obedience which was clear in His dissertation we call the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. ” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “Psychologists will declare perversions are normal, sin is an irrelevant term, “love” validates anything. Dismantling toxic ideas and false doctrines and pulling down entrenched perversions of God’s principles demands subjection to an authority they can’t overcome.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)

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