By Project Arctos TEam

As we look forward, here are some trends we believe are significant. Please feel free to tear out this page to discuss with your church community or leadership as we believe these trends or advances will affect our futures:

Advances in Technology:

Before we discuss this trend, take a moment to read this brief essay:

Title: A Reflection on Ex-vangelicals (Christians leaving Evangelicalism)

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." - Romans 1:16

This verse from Romans reminds us of the importance of sharing the good news of the gospel. However, many ex-Evangelicals may have had negative experiences within the church or with certain individuals who called themselves Evangelicals, and may feel hesitant or even ashamed to be associated with the term.

It's important to remember that the church is made up of people who, like all of us, are imperfect and make

mistakes. The actions of some individuals or a particular church should not discredit the message of the gospel.

We must remember that the true message of the gospel is one of love, forgiveness, and grace. It's about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection, which offers salvation to all who believe. It's important to not let past negative experiences or the actions of others to taint our understanding and belief in the message of the gospel.

We can instead focus on the love of God and the hope that the gospel brings. Let us strive to share the good news of the gospel with love and grace, and not to be ashamed of the message of salvation that is offered to us through Jesus Christ.

Now, you may be wondering, what does this have to do with technology? Technological advances are nothing new, but the latest advances in AI (Artificial Intelligence) may be on the same level of cultural shift as the advent of the internet or the printing press. Take “A Reflection on Ex-vangelicals” (Christians leaving Evangelicalism) for example. This wasn’t written by one of our writers; it was written entirely by ChatGPT-3 (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 3) AI.

ChatGPT-3 is an online AI that generates "original" content for you based on a machine learning system that pulls from the wealth of virtual content compiled over the course of the digital age. You can ask it a question or ask it to "write a sermon on John 3:16" and it will generate content you would generally think was written by a human. Other advances include AI that generates "original" artwork. The art below was also created by AI, not a person. While we don’t know exactly what advances like ChatGPT-3 will mean broadly speaking or for the Church specifically, it does seem clear that it will fundamentally change how we generate and receive information moving forward.

Some questions for ourselves as this new technology breaks into our world:

1. What are the leading advances and how can I prepare for or begin to explore them? (You can play with ChatGPT-3 as a starter (https://chat.openai.com/auth/login). You could even ask it, “What are the latest advances in AI?”).

2. What might be the benefits to having this type of computing power at our fingertips? And what might be some of the dangers for us?

3. How could, or should we approach AI-generated Christian content? Can your favorite "pastor" or devotion be created by an AI and still be edifying? What if your pastor or favorite theologian starts using AI to aid in generating their ministry content for you? Would it be any different than using Google or Biblegateway.com?

4. How can my Christian community meaningfully and responsibly engage these new technologies?

The COVID-19 Pandemic:

This one should be obvious, but our world is fundamentally different than it was three years ago, specifically because of the pandemic. While we all hoped everything would be "back to normal" by now, there are systemic lingering effects to our personal health, the world-wide supply chains that sustain us, and most importantly, to our default social fabric. Consistent and vibrant community has perhaps never been in such a state of decline. We’ll need to be open and honest with ourselves to really understand and acknowledge all the ways we might be less socially engaged than we once were.

Some questions for ourselves as we move forward through the aftermath of the ongoing pandemic:

1. What are the advantages and challenges of increased remote work, semi-remote church gatherings, and increased virtual interactions in general?

2. How do we as local church gatherings endeavor to foster meaningful community (both in-person and virtually)?

3. Examine yourself (with God’s help), what spiritual and social needs have you been missing, and what can you do to communicate those needs to your church community?

2024 Election Ramp-Up in the US

Politics remain divisive and contentious, but if we each can personally do better in how we approach it, we may be able to effect some positive change in this next election season. As a starting point, we suggest checking out "Like, Share, Do Nothing" where Matt Reffie challenges us to rethink our approach to politics and social media in a more spiritually mindful and practical way. Even a small shift from everyday Christians can certainly move political mountains and bring Americans together to the glory of God.

Some questions for ourselves as we enter the next major political season:

1. Are my interactions with others bridging gaps or creating/maintaining sharp divides?

2. When it comes to political policy, should the overarching principle or its practical effects be the main guide to our political activism? Why?

3. For the political issues most important to me, who is most affected by those policies and how can the local church support those individuals?

The question for each of us moving forward is, where is God moving in each of these areas? More specifically, what is God doing in your particular areas of influence and how can you partner in it? Maybe being well-read and thoughtful about AI advances will give you opportunities to help schools and parents navigate AI plagiarism and research skills issues. Maybe diverting some of your church’s resources toward job or food security support could pay big spiritual dividends in this season. Or maybe it’s time to invest your local Kingdom resources into a comprehensive approach to toward integrative (in-person and virtual) community building ministries. Whatever the case for your particular circles, it’s clear we’ll need to be in-tune and abiding with God to fruitfully navigate the coming year. Please take some time out today and pray with us:

Lord, this world is ever-changing. Things are never as straightforward as we'd like them to be, and we're not able to navigate it alone.

Please, speak to us. Bring people into our lives who can speak wisdom into these areas and give us ears to hear them well.

Guide our thoughts and actions to be decidedly different in every situation where we're maybe not being the most constructive or helpful. Raise us up to be vibrant citizens for your Kingdom - to be a practical and spiritual resource for our enemies, neighbors, friends, and family. While the world may be moving in directions we do not want or recognize, we still see your face in all things and trust you are working all things toward good. Guide us each day to be partners in your good.

Amen.