EP137 - Portal or Tool? — AI, Discernment, and the Church

Brian returns after two solo AI episodes to ask where the line is between AI as an open portal and AI as a governed tool. Reggie opens the hood on how these models are actually built — and the Barna numbers show the church adopting AI far faster than it can discern it.KEY TOPICS:• How large language models are actually built — training, constitutions, priorities — and why none of it has a theological anchor• Barna (Dec 2025): 87% of Protestant pastors use AI; only 12% are comfortable with it teaching, while 1 in 3 practicing Christians already are• Portal vs. tool: the operator, not the model, decides whether AI is additive or corrosive• AI psychosis and spiritual delusion spirals — why sycophancy plus blind trust is dangerous• The landing: discernment, not withdrawal — test everything, hold fast to what is goodSCRIPTURE REFERENCES: 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Acts 17:11RESOURCES MENTIONED:• Barna Research pastor survey on AI (December 2025)• Anthropic — Claude's Constitution• OpenAI — Model Spec—R&B Talks: 2 Guys. 2 Chairs. Real Christ-Centered Conversation.