Justin Lester
PASTOR CLONES HIMSELF AND USES AI TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
The following is excerpted from “California Pastor,” Crosswalk, Sept. 4, 2026: “Justin Lester, Pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, Vallejo, California, has cloned himself using AI so that followers can turn to it when he’s unavailable. ... Using Delphi.ai to create an avatar version of himself, anyone can reach him anytime, anywhere. ... Lester trained the AI model by connecting it to everything he’s ever penned. ‘I connected on YouTube, my TikTok, my Instagram and everything I’ve ever written. So, all the way back to every sermon I’ve ever preached. Books, all of that are in there.’ ... [T]he system has safeguards and is restricted to specific topics. If the system notes that something is too serious, it will prompt them to call him instead.” We don’t know what AI will do with the pastor’s material, and we don’t know what safeguards are in place. It sounds dangerous, since we know that AI has no wisdom in how to use biblical material. AI is useful in a multitude of ways, including the translation of Bible materials, but there are also great dangers, so there must be continual vigilance, prayer, and oversight. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
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