A core human problem since Adam and Eve strolled through the garden—and a snake grabbed Eve’s attention—is what to do with the knowledge we received when the first humans bit into an apple.
The tree at the center of the garden of Eden is one we’ve come to call the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent promised that if Adam and Eve ate it, they would be like God, knowing good and evil. When Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
It was a sweet offer, for sure. She went for it.
Then Adam, being the dumb, silent type, followed suit.
What happened, of course, is that they got more knowledge… but not more wisdom. The serpent tricked them. They didn’t become fully like God, all knowing, all seeing, all wise. What they got instead was partial knowledge and muted discernment. As a result, ever since the garden, our knowledge has been stockpiling much more quickly than our wisdom has. We have just enough knowledge to see the tragedy, not nearly enough wisdom to solve it.
AI puts that problem on steroids.
Fast-forward to our lifetime, and the internet and social media have opened up so much knowledge to the average person that we’ve had a corresponding plummet in mental health. We don’t have a clue how to handle all we know.
If all truth is from God (whatever we discover that’s true comes from God), then AI unleashes more of the knowledge of God without more of the wisdom of God. The wider the gap, the bigger the problem becomes.
So here’s the part most people miss.
When you hear “the knowledge of God without the wisdom of God,” it’s tempting to think of it as a cultural problem. Something happening out there. To other people. On the internet.
It’s not.
The wisdom gap doesn’t only show up in headlines and feeds and deepfakes. It shows up in you. In me.
In the split second when a tool can make you look brilliant and nobody will know you didn’t do the work. In the late-night search no one will see… in the AI girlfriend or boyfriend who never disagrees with you… in a deal that makes you rich if you just don’t ask too many questions.
More knowledge without more wisdom is a personal vulnerability for all of us.
It would be easy to miss the battle within because the battle around us is so intense. But if Christians are to be fit for this battle, we have to start with the inner journey. With our character.
C. S. Lewis said every choice you make turns the central part of you—the part that chooses—into something a little different from what it was before. Dallas Willard called character “the internal, overall structure of the self” that governs what you do without having to think much.
In other words, your character determines your reflex.
Faced with a split second to respond, do you tell the truth or shade it? Flirt a little, or stay true to your spouse? Take the shortcut, or do the work? You don’t decide in the moment. You decided long before the moment showed up.
Good character is never easy to nurture or build in the most stable of times. But when you’re in the midst of once-unfathomable change, dislocation, and perhaps cascading crises brought on by AI and it’s disruptive impacts on jobs, the economy and mental health, what happens to your soul?
That’s a difficult question each one of us has to ask.
The questions and opportunities AI poses will test every person’s soul at levels most of us haven’t experienced before.
And the gap doesn’t sit out there in the culture. It sits inside you, waiting for the next decision.
If your character is at issue now (and is there anyone for whom character is not an issue), fasten your seatbelts.
With AI, the incentives to compromise are about to get stranger and stronger than we’ve ever experienced. Overnight fame. Instant wealth. “Perfect” relationships on demand. The ability to create work and success at scale with almost no effort.
Morgan Housel argues that incentives drive human behavior. Incentives, he says, are “the most powerful force in the world.” When the incentives are crazy, the behavior is crazy.
As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn observed, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”
Crank the incentives high enough and that line moves. Not just in theory, but in you.
More of the knowledge of God without more of the wisdom of God doesn’t just produce a confused world. It produces a compromised you.
Which is why fortifying your integrity isn’t optional. It’s the only honest response to the moment we’re in.
This is why the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been as AI makes everything in the history of information accessible at the snap of your fingers. And it’s why you and I need to fortify our integrity. To settle who we are and what we believe before the pull of AI toward the dark side gets to us.
The knowledge of God without the wisdom of God is more curse than blessing.
The Anatomy of Moral Compromise
If your character is at issue as AI escalates, one important question to ask is, What causes people to lose integrity in the first place? I mean, other than the fall?
You probably know someone who was leading a faithful, seemingly solid life who went off the rails. Ended up in bed with someone he wasn’t married to. Took money that didn’t belong to him. Abused power in a way that got him terminated and left him with no friends. Yet, early on, most would have said he was a great guy. And everyone’s left scratching their head, wondering how it happened.
Moral compromise doesn’t usually start with a giant leap from stellar character to criminal behavior. It happens gradually. One untruth here. A compromise there. And soon an exception becomes a pattern. If you study people whose character unravels, it’s usually a thousand little compromises that leave you compromised.
That’s been true for as long as humans have existed.
But AI changes the math. The compromises will come faster, easier, and with less friction than ever before. The shortcut is one click away. The lie is one prompt away. The version of you who would never do that is one tired night away from doing it.
So how do you guard against the collapse, or at least compromise, of your character as incentives multiply? It takes a lifetime to answer that question thoroughly. But here are four things that can help you stay anchored to what you know to be true.
Ways to Stand Firm When Incentives Try to Knock You Down
Competence gets you in the room. Character keeps you in the room.
There are legions of brilliant leaders who are no longer in ministry, not because they weren’t smart enough, but because their character didn’t grow as quickly as their platform. The key to longevity in ministry almost always comes down to character.
In an AI world, when tools can make you appear brilliant instantly, the temptation to lean on shortcuts over depth is enormous. Thanks to AI, competency is now cheap. Character is the only thing that can’t be automated.
Your closest relationships will shape you more than your best intentions.
In a world where AI will make compromise easier and consequences feel distant, your circle may be the single greatest safeguard for your soul. Who are your faithful companions? Who’s allowed in your court? Who tells you the truth when you don’t want to hear it?
If you can’t answer those questions, that’s the first thing to fix.
Stop the spin.
The temptation to enter the vortex of lies and deception will be great. But because of your faith, be dead honest. Tell the truth. If and when you slip, immediately confess your role in it. Apologies and confessions are rare now. They’ll become rarer still.
You’ve done wrong? Confess it and address it. Because you’ll never address what you won’t confess.
Ask the five-year question.
When in doubt, ask this: Five years from now, what will I wish I had done?
It’s not a magic solution, but I’m shocked at how often that question clarifies things. I don’t know what will happen five years from now. But I do know I’m not going to want to have sold my soul or surrendered my integrity.
That keeps the compass pointing in the right direction.
A Choice You Won’t Regret
Despite the headlines, many more pastors have walked with integrity than have compromised it.
Be one of those leaders who takes the high road, even when it’s the hard road. God will know. You will know. And the people who know you best will know.
Looking back, you’ll be glad you did.
AI and the Future Church is Carey’s new book on the ministry, strategy, theological, and ethical issues AI poses for church leaders in the age of AI.
The book releases September 15, 2026.
Pre-order and get free pre-order bonuses at AIFuture.Church.