God and Nature 2025 #2
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By Mike Brownnutt
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV)
Modern technology is amazing. Google can tell you almost anything you want to know. Whatever question my kids have, ChatGPT can tell them an answer in less time than it takes me to look up from my cup of tea and ask them to repeat themselves. If technology puts all possible information in the palm of your hand, what do we—mere human beings—have to offer the next generation, or any generation? Much in every way!
Jesus’ instruction to his disciples is not to tell people things so that they know information. Rather, it is to teach people so that they obey his commands. Jesus commands us, for example, to love one another. The simplest AI can tell a person to obey Jesus’ command to love; it takes only a few words. But what does it take to teach someone to obey Jesus’ command to love? It takes a life that shows that it is possible, day after day, year after year, to be kind, gracious, forgiving, patient, self-controlled, and hopeful. Not simply saying that it is possible but showing it as well.
It may take being awake at 3.00 am, holding a person’s hand as we identify with their suffering, weeping bitterly with them, sharing silent recognition that words will not do and that none of the nice, neat answers make any sense. Teaching to love requires showing that in real, messy life, you love. And you continue to love even when you stand to lose everything you hold dear, because that is how obedience to the command works.
God places great significance in humans. We are divinely called to a task that cannot be accomplished by anything else. We can let technology tell. But we must not think that this does away with our task to teach.
God, thank you for the place that you have given to humanity in your plan for building your kingdom. Amen.
Mike Brownnutt is the Course Director at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
*Reproduced with permission from The Works of The Lord: 52 Biblical Reflections on Science, Technology and Creation, edited by Ruth Bancewicz (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2025).
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV)
Modern technology is amazing. Google can tell you almost anything you want to know. Whatever question my kids have, ChatGPT can tell them an answer in less time than it takes me to look up from my cup of tea and ask them to repeat themselves. If technology puts all possible information in the palm of your hand, what do we—mere human beings—have to offer the next generation, or any generation? Much in every way!
Jesus’ instruction to his disciples is not to tell people things so that they know information. Rather, it is to teach people so that they obey his commands. Jesus commands us, for example, to love one another. The simplest AI can tell a person to obey Jesus’ command to love; it takes only a few words. But what does it take to teach someone to obey Jesus’ command to love? It takes a life that shows that it is possible, day after day, year after year, to be kind, gracious, forgiving, patient, self-controlled, and hopeful. Not simply saying that it is possible but showing it as well.
It may take being awake at 3.00 am, holding a person’s hand as we identify with their suffering, weeping bitterly with them, sharing silent recognition that words will not do and that none of the nice, neat answers make any sense. Teaching to love requires showing that in real, messy life, you love. And you continue to love even when you stand to lose everything you hold dear, because that is how obedience to the command works.
God places great significance in humans. We are divinely called to a task that cannot be accomplished by anything else. We can let technology tell. But we must not think that this does away with our task to teach.
God, thank you for the place that you have given to humanity in your plan for building your kingdom. Amen.
Mike Brownnutt is the Course Director at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
*Reproduced with permission from The Works of The Lord: 52 Biblical Reflections on Science, Technology and Creation, edited by Ruth Bancewicz (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2025).