A preacher whose opinion I respect said he takes his sermon, puts it into ChatGPT, and asks it to “review his sermon and make suggestions to improve it.”

It sounded like a good idea. So when my sermon was almost complete, I tried it to see if I could make any small improvements. Honestly, I was not prepared for what happened next. It produced a list of 10 suggestions to improve my message. And it may be my imagination, but each one felt progressively more hostile.

First, it suggested wording changes; then it began to critique the overall development of my sermon. By the fifth suggestion, it told me the middle part of my message was “redundant and potentially boring.” The final suggestion left me questioning my abilities as a preacher.

I waded through each possible change and made a few of the helpful ones.

The next week I tried it again. I have repeated this process for the past month. I research and write my sermon. Then, when I feel I have done my own work, I ask AI to help me improve it like a trusted teacher.

Here is one thing this whole process is teaching me. I am learning how to receive constructive criticism. Over the years, everyone I have asked has always had positive things to say about my work. But using technology without emotional strings has been a game changer. I still don’t think it is right in every assessment, but it does give me an unbiased critique.

You might think you have thick skin when it comes to evaluating your work, but until a computer tears it apart, you can never be sure. AI is teaching me how to handle constructive suggestions without destroying a friendship.