ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Sharing your faith with others can be one of the most daunting aspects of Christian practice. Believers regularly express concerns that they might say something wrong.
Aiming to equip pastors and ministry leaders with another evangelistic tool, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) has introduced a new web app that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to help users practice engaging in Gospel conversations in a low-stakes virtual environment.
The tool, called Share the Gospel, creates a virtual chat forum where participants can interact with a chatbot that imitates various conversation partners, whether those of differing faiths or those who have no faith at all.
“We’re excited about the ways this tool could be utilized to help believers gain a better understanding of questions and concerns nonbelievers might raise during a witnessing encounter” said Tim Dowdy, NAMB’s vice president of evangelism. “Since the team at NAMB began developing this resource, I’ve been looking forward to seeing the ways local churches might implement it within their congregations.”
Settings within the app allow for different modes, as well: beginner, medium and hard. The most difficult setting is designed to afford users with practice in apologetics, and along the way, the system provides optional feedback that offers both encouragement and instruction to the user.
The models used by the AI for Share the Gospel incorporate guardrails that keep the user within the evangelistic scenario and directs users to connect with a pastor if they have questions about theology or the Christian life.
“As our team established the criteria for this tool, we put guidelines in place that focused the conversations on evangelism and apologetics,” said Trevin Wax, vice president for resources and marketing at NAMB. “Our goal was to create a tool that aids Christians in thinking through objections or counterpoints that might arise in conversation with people from different backgrounds, with different belief systems.”
While the resource is easy to use, Wax said, it is not a replacement for evangelism training in the context of the local church or having genuine spiritual conversations with their neighbors.
“The Share the Gospel app is meant to prompt good conversations within the context of the local church so you can get input from your pastor and fellow church members,” Wax said. “We pray this app will aid Christians in real-life conversations, especially in the church where discipleship takes place.”
The tool also comes with a disclaimer: AI can make mistakes. While NAMB’s team has sought feedback from pastors and other evangelism leaders to iron out wrinkles, the tool isn’t perfect but hopefully it will be helpful in preparing to tell others about Jesus.
“This is a work in progress,” Wax said. “We will continue to improve it and make refinements as we go.”
Share the Gospel is the latest in a number of evangelism resources NAMB has created to serve local churches, and it’s one NAMB hopes equips everyday believers so they can more effectively engage their unbelieving neighbors, friends, and family members.
To try Share the Gospel, visit this link. Other NAMB evangelism resources, digital and print, as well as training events and articles can be found at namb.net/evangelism.
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