Ai, or artificial intelligence, is becoming a thing lately. I remember hearing last year talk that blue-collar jobs like flipping cheeseburgers or driving trucks will soon be all done by robots. Yet, it now appears that white-collar jobs like writing are in more danger. I could have prepared this message by telling an ai bot that I want this subject matter to be written about from a Biblical perspective, and then presto, it would be done. Yet, it wouldn't have been me, with my quirks, mistakes, philosophy, and otherwise unique or weird take on the matter. However, from a secular perspective, what are humans for if AI can do all the work perfectly? That's what I want to address in this message.
Secondly, what do we have now? 493 genders? Blasphemy. We also have the idea running around that you can pick a gender. It's what you feel that determines your gender. You can transition to it. Heresy. I also want to address that by examining how the two actual genders complement each other and represent God within the headship he created.
Creation (Genesis 1-2)
God decided to create. He made the earth and heaven. The world was "without form and void"; it's somewhat implied that it could not be felt; darkness was here. Then God made light. Darkness was a pre-existing condition, but God created light. Light can be seen, and you can feel its warmth, but you cannot handle it. It has no "body." Nothing had a "body." Water was here, and that was the closest thing to something with substance.
Then God moved on to those things of substance. He created dry land, or perhaps it's better to say he "appeared" it simply by gathering the water into one place with a spoken word. God then created grass, plants, trees, fruit, and seeds that made more plants from themselves. Now the world has seeable things and seeable items with a body.
God went on to the next stage; he created seeable things with a body and with emotion. I hesitate to use the word "soul" because these creatures are not eternal or God-like. However, they do have an operating system and some cognitive ability to make choices. They were the living—fish in the water, birds in the air, animals on the land. The world quite literally burst into a joyous, wonderful life. These creatures were seeable like light and possessed physical bodies, like the earth, yet they had something extra, a personality, an ability to really and truly live.
Finally, it was time to pull out all the stops. God made a creature who could be seen and touched and lived like an animal, but something more. This creature could re-arrange the things God made. He was obviously in charge of all of it. He had a deep capacity for feeling, thinking, and determining. Many animals run on auto-pilot; by instinct, we call it. Not this creature, he contemplated, analyzed, learned. He also carried the image of his Creator. He was eternal, like his Creator, he loved to create and improve things, like his Creator, and he had a spirit in him. A spirit that gave him an identity and a desire to worship something or someone. This spirit gave him the desire to work for something or someone beyond himself. Regardless of outward circumstances, all was well inside this being as long as that Spirit was filled with a desire to serve his Creator or, in our day, the Holy Spirit. This fantastic creature was a human man. Men carry an inherent tendency to accumulate, build, and expand. Compare the most remarkable creation in the animal world with what men scheme up. There's no comparison. We see God's likeness in men with how they expand and build Kingdoms. I'm not talking about governments. I'm talking about ownership, the desire to buy a house, own property, start a business, build stuff, and have people of his own in the form of his own family. God is that way, he created all good things in the world, and he wants his people.
Yet God still was not finished. He took a rib from this man to create a woman like him in many ways. She was his partner. She shared all the beautiful attributes of the man, the whole enchilada of having a body, soul, Spirit, being eternal, being able to create, desiring to serve something or someone greater than herself, etc. All the man had, she had as well, yet, as the last created being, she added one more final trait. She was and still is the only physical being in the world who can create a new eternal being. She is the only physical being who can create a new man or woman. All of us owe our existence to her and her daughters. We will exist eternally because of them. (Yes, I know that she can't do it by herself, I know how it works, but she does most of it.) Women are also much better at appreciating and preserving God's creation. It's not just physical children; women are generally able to create, cultivate, and nurture their surroundings to bring out the best. You see it in how they decorate homes, and flowerbeds, cooking recipes, etc. This extra something special, this finishing touch, is a special gift available to all women, not just the married ones. We see the image of God in women with how they create beauty in their spaces. God does that, too; look at Niagara falls, the Scottish highlands, the Rocky Mountains, lakes, and the ocean. Then, look at the details, the colors on the songbirds, the hummingbirds, a monarch butterfly, a ladybug, and remember, this is all how it looks after the fall. Imagine how beautiful things were before! We also see the image of God in how women prioritize nurturing relationships over success. It's why they are so good at discipling children. No one will help a little boy mature into the man he was created to be, as well as a mom who cares about his heart. A father will give the boy identity, which is essential, but a mom will care for him when his little world falls apart. God is that way, too; there is a reason God gave us all the ability to reject him. God is more interested in a relationship with a few who genuinely desire it than he is in all being forced to obey his will in this life.
Headship (Ephesians 5:22-25)
With everything that was said about creation, there had been an order put in place by God. This order is not of importance or control; it's an order of headship.
What is headship? To head something means to go first in the challenging matters, knock the door down and blaze a trail for others to follow. The best way to define headship is to examine how Jesus lived it out and how the church responded.
Jesus got baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on him. The church gets baptized and also receives the Holy Spirit. Jesus faced the Devil after his baptism and won. Now, with the same Spirit received after baptism, the church can do the same. Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom and created disciples out of those he met, fishermen, tax collectors, etc. With nothing but the power of God, he single-handedly locked horns with the religious people of his day who were not following truth, scribes, and Pharisees, and prepared the way for the church to do the same, only it's more straightforward for us because he kicked the door down. He put the gospel in words. The church only needs to repeat it. When something right is culturally awkward, we can go ahead and do it anyway, for Jesus showed us how by example, Masters don't wash feet. Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Now we wash each other's feet, for he who is significant here is least in God's Kingdom and vice versa.
Jesus died so that the church could live. He conquered death by resurrecting, and now the church can face death and know that she, too, will have a resurrection. That is the ultimate headship. Men are to do the same and die so their wives can live. Dying might not mean being crucified; it might simply mean sacrificing something you want so your wife can be at peace.
What does the church do? The church cares for God's children. The church baptizes them, prays for the Holy Spirit to descend, and implores God for his protection over his people. A Christian cannot survive spiritually without the church. I am convinced of this. Perhaps a Christian can survive without going to church, but not without the church. Who wrote scripture? Church people. Who baptizes? Church people. Who prays to God? Church people. Who are church people? All of God's children. Could God make it possible that a Christian could survive without the church? Yes, because he is God, but that's not how he chose to do it.
Humanity cannot physically survive without women. Why? We all have an expiration date in this physical life. Who will give up her freedom and body to create a brand new human being? Who will spend the next 18 years carefully crafting this human being into an adult? Who can do all of it? Only women.
What makes it possible for the church and women to nurture like this? Headship. Christ provided a pathway for the church to walk on. He laid a template and gave himself up. Men acting like God will turn from chasing the world's things long enough to meet a woman's needs. It doesn't always mean that a woman gives up her job, but it does make it possible for her to do so if she is going to raise children. I'm speaking in general principles here. Can you see the stamp of God in all this? Animals can't even have relationships like this with a creator and a church family, and AI definitely can't. The whole 493 genders idea ultimately falls apart in the headship order. There is no complementary, free-flowing, mutually beneficial dynamic; everyone is running around like an intelligent animal that somehow doesn't know what it is. It almost appears like they are trying to move away from the image of God. I want to clarify that these people are to be loved and prayed for. They need to be set free.
This whole headship relationship is why God asks us certain things regarding headship.
- Women should refrain from taking leadership positions in the main assembly. (1 Timothy 2:12) At first glance, this might seem unfair, but consider that teaching is dangerous business, because God will judge sternly those who teach. (James 3:1, the word translated master in KJV, means teacher, it implies the idea of someone who has the authority to teach, a church as in this context or a school.) Also, consider that in the early days of the church, a leader took his calling seriously and was often the target of persecutors. You were literally putting your neck on the line when you were a leader. So, the notion of it not being fair is not valid; what happened is in our modern times, we take the idea of leading out in church less seriously than it is. We see it as a position of novelty or esteem instead of a dangerous but necessary work that women should be protected from.
- According to Paul, men should have their heads uncovered, and women should have them covered when praying or prophesying. (1 Corinthians 11:4-5) This practice isn't fair to the women in our day, but it isn't God's fault. If our culture said that it was improper for anyone to pray uncovered, then we men would be tempted to wear caps all the time. Yet, if you are in a big crowd of people, and the speaker says, let us pray, what happens with all the bill-caps? They come off. So, our culture is telling us that men need to pay attention to what Paul said and women don't. Covering women and not covering men is a physical acknowledgment of a spiritual reality. You can liken it to communion or baptism. Good physical practices that mean very little if the heart is not in the right place to remember the why behind the custom. I believe the cultural problem today is primarily men's fault. If we were the same kind of heads Christ is, perhaps we wouldn't find this issue such a hot-button. So, as men, we should learn to be Christ-like heads. (I compared head-covering to baptism and communion to help make a point of it being a physical symbol pointing to spiritual reality. However, I believe communion and baptism are more important than head coverings. Saving a soul with repentance followed by baptism and communion in remembrance of Christ, who made it possible, is more important than remembering headship with an outward symbol. It is simply an outward symbol of headship that Paul encouraged believers to use to honor headship, so I try to be libertarian about the matter.)
Investment
This subject is the last item I will discuss today. It's one more thing that makes humans different. Investing is when you devote time or resources toward a future goal. Some people invest more than others. How is the amount of investment measured? There are two different scales to measure it: the worldly way and God's way.
- The worldly way says that more is more. If you invest $1000 per month in a mutual fund, but your neighbor only invests $200 per month because he works at a gas station and not at a bank and therefore has less extra lying around the world says, the reward for the wealthier person will be greater at the end of the day. More is more on both ends. It's the same with time. If you work two jobs and put in 16-hour days to double your income, you will get rewarded accordingly. The world says the more time you spend on a thing, the more you get back from the same. If having money is more important than your family, you can get the cash and let the family suffer or vise-versa.
- God's way says it's about what you are willing to do without. If all you have is 2 cents, but you decide that you can do without those 2 cents to give the money to God. Then you have given more than the millionaire who throws in a $1000 check according to God's scale. The millionaire can still use nearly a million to care for himself, but the person who gave 2 cents cannot. God has to bail her out. (Luke 21:1-4) Regarding time, God's way of measuring says that the way to prioritize time is to remember that there is a thing that takes time, that makes all other time-consuming things seem unimportant, and you should prioritize it. That thing is to spend time with him. So, making all your other activities take a backseat to time with him is a path to success with how God measures time. (Luke 10:38-42)
So, for the sake of discussion, let's take the world's scale of measuring our investing entirely out of the picture and pretend that we will only use God's way of measuring. Doing that informs us that we only need to know three basic things. 1. How much should we keep of the money we earn? 2. How do we give him the rest? 3. How much time can we handle spending with him?
Question one. A few people were called to leave all things to follow Jesus; that was the 12 disciples. They didn't have to sell it; they just left it behind to hit the road. An even fewer group of people was called to sell all to follow Jesus; that was the rich young ruler. The rest are called to see the things they hold as God's and use them for him. That was the rest of the people who followed Jesus, like Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and the man who was delivered from the legion of demons. He wanted to leave it all but was told he was called to steward, basically, "go back to your home and tell others what God has done." Most of us probably fit in that third group. If that is the case, we need a number to live on. We should ask God to tell us how much we should spend monthly and how much we should save monthly. Then we invest the rest in God's Kingdom. We must remember this number is JUST FOR YOU. It would be in the New Testament if it were the same for everyone. If we make a church-wide standard of living, I believe we have corrupted our religion by speaking where God has not. I have a number, but I won't say it publicly. I'll tell you privately if I feel like you won't feel any obligation to copy me.
Question two. How do we give the money to God? When we give it to God, we should remember that whoever we think is the best investor we know, God made him/her and therefore is even better at investing than that person. Jesus claimed that investing with God is the surest, safest investment possible. (Matthew 6:19-20) There are also different levels of rewards based on your work. (Matthew 16:27) Good work requires time and money; therefore, that's how you invest in the Kingdom. If you search the word "reward" in the New Testament, you will find many verses that say this or that good work give you a great reward.
What do all the good works have in common? They pertain to how you relate to other people. Jesus ties it all together by saying, "Come receive your inheritance, for you did this for me when you did it for the least of these..." (Matthew 25:34-40) How you specifically care for the "least of these" will vary significantly based on your calling. My calling is at least partially to write things like this message, share it with people, and financially support those in need. How do I know? I don't know for sure, but it's something I seem to have been equipped for, and I enjoy it. Others might feel the same about business. In that case, they should probably create jobs for the "least of these." A solid, stable job offered by a disciple of Christ is a tremendous blessing for a poor person struggling to get ahead. Others might be called to almost exclusively give their time for the least of these. In this case, they should do so, knowing that God will move those of us who have jobs and are obedient to give to them so they can do it.
Question three. How do we spend time with God? There are two ways that we should consider. Solitude in prayer, reading the Bible, and also listening to him. I don't think we should do all the talking when we pray. In the great meeting of the leaders about how many Jewish things Gentile Christians should do, there was a consensus that it seemed "good to the Holy Spirit" (Acts 15:28-29). On that occasion, it would appear that some serious "listening" was being done by those who prayed before and during the meeting. The second way comes back to the whole idea of how if we do it for the least of these, we do it for him. So, when you spend time with others in a way designed to be positive for them, you do it with God. It might mean spending time taking a young boy bluegill fishing when you would rather spend the afternoon with a guide trying to catch a striper, or in my case, "driving my computer" with my steering wheel and pedals set. This idea of unselfishly giving time to others includes our family, by the way.
With the idea of rewards in eternity, perhaps we should ask ourselves: How much time can I afford to leave for my selfish desires? For me, it's still a lot of time. Like in money, I don't want to give you a number you must adhere to for your playtime. It's between you and the Holy Spirit. WE ARE ALL CALLED DIFFERENTLY. Is doing something that you enjoy good? Absolutely! How often? It's between you and God and none of my business. These are principles and not dogmas; if someone applies them differently from us, then Jesus might say, "What is that to thee? Follow thou me."
In closing, human beings are amazing, not because of us but because of our Creator. The only thing on this earth that you can touch right now, which will still exist in some form a million years from now, is a human being. This fact also means a human being is the only thing worth investing any time and money into. Everything else that money and time can go to is a waste a million years from now. As we saw in creation, humans are three parts, body, soul, and Spirit. This cannot be said about anything from the AI world.
Since humans are so complex, many opportunities exist for people of all callings and types to invest in them. The businessmen who handle many material possessions are extremely important because they can invest in human bodily well-being by providing jobs, housing, food, medical care, etc. The motherly and pastoral types matter because they care about a person's feelings. Motivational encourager types care that they have the will to do the right thing, and teachers want people to be mentally equipped for their calling. Feelings, will, and mind those all make up the soul. We need people who work on all those things dealing with soul issues. Finally, we need evangelists who set people up for eternity by having them invite the Holy Spirit in to take over their Spirit. That's a fancy way of saying, lead someone to Christ.
Nowhere in scripture can I find any evidence that caring for one part of a person is more important than caring for another part. The three parts are all connected. If you give a poor beggar a burger and a new pair of shoes, you have helped his body, made him feel loved, and showed him a new kind of Spirit at work. You touched all three parts in that simple act, even though your work was focused on the body. The point is that people have multiple gifts and help people in various ways, but ultimately when done from the right heart, all parts of a person are blessed.
