Is your worship for God or for social media?

A fragment of John Piper’s sermon recently went viral, in which he asked the artificial intelligence ChatGPT to formulate a prayer to God. The AI responded impeccably, presenting profound theology and words laden with gratitude. However, Piper wanted to emphasize the following: no matter how brilliant the text is, it comes from a machine devoid of heart and spirit. Consequently, anyone could compose such an eloquent prayer, but is it truly a plea to God or simply a show to impress the listeners?

Under the same premise Piper raises, we must ask ourselves: Is everything we share on social media—online prayers, worship videos, or other displays of faith—responsive to genuine worship that springs from the heart, or is it simply a resource to capture attention and boost the apostle’s or church’s marketing? In Matthew 8 we read:

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Thus, we can offer extremely beautiful worship on social media, yet it may not necessarily be directed toward the glory of God. It’s unfortunate that, in the digital age, we run the risk of becoming spiritless machines, whose only goal is to accumulate “likes” at any cost.

Our worship should be pure and simple, focused solely on God; however, today we seem to be so absorbed in social media and sustaining the church’s marketing campaign that we have lost sight of that purpose and do whatever it takes to get results, instead of offering God authentic praise.

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