As the Church, we have a duty to respond and help those who are in need. Many who participate in these cyber connections are excessively lonely; they are fearful and feel like outcasts, so they attempt to find solace in something they believe will not toss them aside. Our approach should be to seek the Lord for His guidance and wisdom on how we ought to navigate first and foremost, but we must operate in grace, rooted in His Spirit. Those who subscribe to these practices are no different from the sinners Jesus approached during His time on earth. Luke 5:30-31 teaches, “But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’”

We must not think ourselves better than others. We must provide opportunities for others to feel welcome in the Church. This could look like hosting a mixer or event for singles that is warm, inviting, and safe. It could look like engaging in friendship to help bring that person back into the land of the living a little more, or it could look like offering a support group for those who know in their core that they need support in getting out of a tangled web. More often than not, the Enemy likes to isolate a person to convince them that they are the only one, that they should hide in shame, or that they are without someone to sympathize with them. When we peel back these lies, what is found underneath is the possibility of genuinely providing a way out.

How You Can Help

Normalizing the union or committed relationship with a human and an AI Server is not the answer to this modern problem, but ostracizing others is not either. Instead, pray for those who have found themselves stuck in these habits, for God can do more than we can even possibly imagine in their hearts, and He might use you in the process.

Related:

How Should Christians Respond to Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence: Useful Tool or Dangerous Idea?

How Christians Can Use AI without Sacrificing Spiritual Connection