The question I have titled this short piece with has been on my mind recently. As of October 2026, I am 34. I use ChatGPT almost daily to organize my life, act as a more in-depth Google, and help me study and consolidate research for messages. AI has become such a hot-button issue that, as the Director of Bible Tracts, Inc. (BTI), I decided we would be exceptionally careful about how we use BTI to promulgate the Gospel.
“Technology seems to be developing beyond humanity’s ability to control. In that vein, I have made the decision that everything I write for any of our tracts or newsletters (including this one) will not be the product of AI (i.e., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc.). AI may be a worthy tool for some uses and possesses marvelous, almost supernatural capabilities, but I believe there is a danger in turning over too much to its power. I take no issue with using AI to help plan a vacation, find a recipe, or help with quick math, but I believe we must be very careful with sacred things…” — BTI Newsletter Q1 2026
If you have been on social media or watched the news in the past year or two, you have likely seen hot takes about the dangers of AI (or super intelligence if you have changed your vernacular recently). But no matter which side of the fence you fall on about the appropriate applications for AI, it is undoubtedly powerful. So powerful, in fact, has it made technologies and media like Christian radio obsolete?
I believe I am somewhat qualified to answer this question. For the past six+ years, I have hosted a radio broadcast, Bible Tract Echoes, that airs on 100+ radio stations every Monday through Friday. Recently, I took the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Dwight, which gave birth to WGVD Radio about a decade ago. WGVD is hosting a Fall Share-a-thon Wednesday through Friday, October 7-9, from 11am to 7pm (Central).
Here shortly, I will be hosting about 24 total hours of live radio, so it might be good if I actually believed in radio, don’t you think? So, do I actually believe in Christian radio? Yes. Yes. I do.
I believe in Christian radio for four main reasons.
- Not everything has to move at the speed of social media. The so-called connector that is social media has left Americans and the world bereft of real connections. Study after study proves the sad truth that modern culture is more depressed and suicidal than generations past. Local radio in general, and Christian radio in particular, is more grounded and real than social media could be on its best day. To be clear, I am not old-fashioned for the sake of being old-fashioned. But would it be so bad to yearn for a kind of media that only invests in the listener instead of sucking the life out of them?
- How about the range of options, both good and bad, on other forms of media? Are there good things on your phone? Sure! But you know as well as I how easy it is to go down a saddening (or plain sinful) rabbit hole very quickly. Christian radio is simply Christian. It’s good program after good program all day long. It is uplifting music and Bible reading constantly. You don’t have to worry about what might be said. Can you say the same about leaving your TV on 24/7?
- Christian radio reaches people who weren’t looking. Imagine a truck driver coming down I-55 a dozen miles from Dwight, IL. He’s tired of podcasts and the news, and as he tunes the radio, he comes across 97.3 FM, the Gospel Voice of Dwight. Like a Gospel tract blown across someone’s path, the 24-hour-a-day missionary that radio is confronts both the seeker and the unaware alike.
- Real people still matter in an artificial age. AI can write scripts, answer questions, and produce content at a speed no human being can match. But ministry has never been simply about transferring information. Hearing the voice of a missionary who has been there and done that, a preacher who has wrestled with the text of a message with the help of the Holy Spirit, or a Christian speaking from experience and conviction has value. Radio can put real people, real testimonies, real preaching, and the real Word of God into someone’s home, workplace, or car.
This short piece is not an in-depth comparison of radio and AI. They are apples and oranges to a large degree. The question I pose is, stated another way: in this fast-paced world filled to the brim with exciting new technology, is there a place for a slower-paced older medium like radio? My answer is yes. I believe so, so much so, that I will be on the radio for the next three days spreading the word, and more importantly, spreading the Word of God! Tune in at wgvd.org. Have a great day for His glory, and God bless!
