Text With Jesus
or at least an AI rigorously trained by dumping the Bible into a language learning model
I started cackling with laughter when I got served up an ad for a new app, TEXT WITH JESUS that lets you interact with an AI version of Jesus (and other Bible characters!). We should have known this was in our near future, but I wasn’t really prepared for the advertising blitz.
The app promises “comfort, guidance, and inspiration” and a connection with the divine… right in your pocket!
All of this for a low monthly subscription price1.
The whole thing is super interesting to me, and of course it’s marketed alongside apps that will let you “chat with the founding fathers!” or “text with Bernie Sanders!”
Some folks may have a profound interaction with this app at some point, because God does what God wants, and isn’t above using a silly app to get a message across to someone.
Having said that, there are three things of particular interest about the existence of this app to me, and ones that strikes to the heart of things I’ve cared about for a long time (and addressed in various way in my first novel, Imaginary Jesus, FOURTEEN YEARS AGO2).
An app like this, by nature, has a point of view on who Jesus is.
By which I only mean, the app will not be Jesus. It’s interactive media with a point of view. Its creators have a point of view, a bias, as well. Which means that not only are you *not* “texting with Jesus” you’re actually texting with someone else’s idea of who Jesus is. Around here we might say, you’re texting with someone else’s “Imaginary Jesus.”
SO INTERESTING. “I was shopping for a Jesus who matched my own preferences. I’m glad to say that in this app I found it!” The review above is interesting, where the reviewer assures us that the Jesus in this app is “conservative.” So if there’s a market for this app, couldn’t there be a market for other apps? Chat with Secular Jesus3, for instance. Chat with Progressive Jesus. Muslims will have Chat with Isa. Mormons will need a Jesus a little different than the Evangelicals, and Evangelicals will need one a little different than the Catholics.
Maybe you’d like King James Jesus (a personal favorite) or Men’s Retreat Jesus or Political Jesus. It’s like buying Barbie dolls! So fun! Collect them all!There’s an inherent skepticism to an app like this, which says that you can’t already interact with Jesus on your own.
A lot of the pitch for this app is about how nice it would be to get “a deeper connection” with Jesus (or, as it turns out, with a variety of “Bible characters,” like Mary, Joseph, the Apostle Paul or, um… Judas Iscariot?!).
So this app is saying, hey, wouldn’t it be nice if you could talk to Jesus? That would be great, right?!
But if you’re a Christian, your own theology tells you that you can talk to Jesus. You don’t need an app or a guide or a priest or a book or a weekly newsletter from your friend Matt. You can pray and God hears you. And you can hear from Jesus through the Word, through the Holy Spirit speaking to you, through so many things: nature, the words of your faith community, talking donkeys, etc.4There are dangers of having your picture of Jesus skewed by well-intentioned but thoughtless decisions made by the people who run this app.
Does Jesus call you “my child”? Is that weird? Does it mess with ideas of the Trinity in some way (God the Father is our father, but also Jesus’s father, so if Jesus calls us his child does that make God the Father our… Grandfather?). Why did Jesus choose this particular translation? It’s funny that Jesus includes Bible references, because in scripture he never uses those (because they didn’t exist yet).
Those are just silly examples. But what happens when I ask AI Jesus some theological question where there is disagreement in the community of faith? What if I ask the AI about, for instance, men and women’s roles in the church? Or how science and faith interact? Or whether I should eat a ham sandwich for lunch today5? How I should react to a friend coming out to me? What I should do when I’ve lost my job? Are these really questions that should be entrusted to an AI playing Jesus dress up?
But hey, feel free to shoot a text to Judas Iscariot. Can’t be any harm in that, right?
Me: Judas, I just betrayed one of my friends for money. What should I do now?
If you’re looking for a great app/website that will help you communicate with God, try SACRED SPACE.
Sacred Space is a website and app run by Irish Jesuits. It’s a prayer tool designed to walk you through the Ignatian prayer method. Ignatian prayer is built around the idea that God loves to be in communication with us, and that we can have intimate and clear relationship.
It typically walks through a few different things:
- becoming aware of/open to God’s presence
- asking God to show you where God is working in your life
- reflection on your day (looking for places where God may be inviting you into relationship/interacting with you)
- Reading scripture, specifically listening for how God is speaking to you through it
- thanking God for the time together
As you can see, it’s not a prayer practice that involves any commentary from others, it’s just you, God, prayer and scripture. I find it incredibly helpful as a structure that keeps me focused on connecting with God, not other people’s pictures or theologies of God.
If you’re having a hard time, though, there are “helps” you can use to give you a little nudge where you need it (including some commentary-ish stuff if that’s what you like!).
If you’re looking for a way to connect better with God, I’d strongly discourage AI Jesus, but I think you’ll love Sacred Space!
I’m reading HERE
Richard McGuire’s experimental graphic novel HERE tells the story of a single corner of a room over the course of thousands of years, and it’s beautiful.
I was a little skeptical that a book like this would hold my attention, but it’s absolutely gorgeous and I was riveted throughout.
You get to know multiple families and see little flashes of their stories: joy, pain, fear, beauty, love. It delves into the distant past and gives just a peek into the near future. You see the prehistoric, the present, the recent past. There’s even a “historically significant” event that takes place, but one of the things I love about this book is that it is treated as just one more thing in a corner of a room over the course of thousands of years.
You can buy HERE here.
I’m watching THE MEG 2
If you go see THE MEG 2, be sure to take a neck brace, because you will be shaking your head the entire time.
This movie is absolutely a forgettable entertainment, scientifically designed to have dialogue easily translated into foreign languages, and with just the most goofball plot and action sequences.
Having said that, I was 100% entertained. I had never seen the first movie but still knew exactly what was going on (giant prehistoric sharks are attacking, that’s pretty much all you need to know).
If you want to see Jason Statham kick a shark that’s as big as a building, then this is the movie for you. It’s a classic summer blockbuster, so turn off your brain, settle back, enjoy the popcorn and the prehistoric mayhem.
I’ve been hanging out with JR. and Amanda
Our very dear friends JR. and Amanda Forasteros came and spent the week with us, and we’ve had a great time. Lots of fun adventures, movies, board games, great food and great conversation. They’re headed home today and we’re sad to see them go!
JR. and I also had several really wonderful days at the beach just hanging out and reading. Here’s a pic of me in my culturally appropriate Oregon beachwear:
AI chats with Bruce are now available
Not actually, because Bruce is the strong, silent type.
ME: Bruce, are you coming inside?
BRUCE: …
ME: Bruce, are you hungry?
BRUCE: …
Here’s Bruce checking out Myca’s new skateboard. Zoey is in there, making sure he’s safe since we didn’t have a rabbit-sized helmet on hand.
Whatever new hobbies or sports you’re trying out, I hope you’re staying in community and staying safe!
Until next time,
Matt
While there is a subscription fee, I didn’t actually go so far as to learn what that fee is. So it may not be for a low price!
I can’t believe my first book is 14 years old. Only one more year and it will need a driver’s permit.
I guarantee you this would actually be called “the historical Jesus” but I digress.
And yes, through apps. God does what God wants to do.
He better send me a gif of a sheet being lowered from heaven with a ham sandwich on it.