In the last 50 years or so, evangelicals saw a new emphasis on information. Emphasizing information wasn’t new. Evangelicals had been long publishing books, distributing sermons, creating pamphlets, etc. But a new type of emphasis on information emerged with the rise of new means of distributing information. Preachers would put sermons on cassette tapes for wider distribution beyond just their local congregations. Then with the rise of the internet, certain preachers gained global reputations and influence as their sermons and teaching were put online. Think of ministries like John MacArthur (Grace to You), John Piper (Desiring God), R.C. Sproul (Renewing Your Mind), and more.

Now this is so commonplace nearly every church publishes sermons online—on their church website, on a podcast, on YouTube, etc. In fact, it might be more unusual to find a church or pastor that doesn’t do this.

Additionally, many pastors and other Christian thinkers have personal Substacks, and it seems like nearly everyone has a podcast. The increase in Christian content creators is exponential as the ability to create and publish content has become more and more democratized.

This is not a value judgment. I simply wish to observe the situation out of which we’re coming.

Observe now our present situation and what is likely only going to increase in the future. Information is voluminous. We’re drowning in it. Ours is the “Information Age.” We can Google things and find information on nearly anything we want. Added to this, AI makes the creation and delivery of content all the more fast and cheap. Instead of needing to locate a book or sermon on a given topic, one can just type a question into an AI chat and generate information (whether reliable or not) within seconds. As more people use AI to churn out content, information will become even more taken for granted and unimpressive.

I once spoke with a prospective church member who said that, while looking for a church to join, they weren’t necessarily looking for the “best” preacher. To be clear, this person cared deeply about sound doctrine; they weren’t indifferent to preaching. However, they reasoned that they could always find great sermons and teaching online. What mattered most to them was the relational aspect—something online sermons cannot provide. (Mind you, this was years before the emergence of popular AIs.)

Regardless of whether or not you agree with this person’s thinking, more and more people will likely begin to see information, like what is offered in a sermon, as easy to come by. Whether they get that information from a local pastor, the internet, or AI may eventually matter less to them. In other words, information will be so ubiquitous that it will no longer be seen as a unique offering of a pastor and local church.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not actually equating a sermon with “information.” The act of preaching, of course, involves relaying information, but rightly understood, it’s much more than that. First, preaching is exhortation. But secondly, preaching is inseparable from the larger context of a complete pastoral ministry. The act of preaching occurs in the context of a particular local church and a pastoral relationship between the preacher and that specific congregation. Sermons do not exist in the abstract as relationshipless speeches. But that’s my point.

In the years to come, what sets pastors apart may not be their ability to relay information. Information relay will be increasingly replaceable by AI. What AI and digital mediums will never be able to replace, though, is genuine human connection, actual pastoring—knowing people, spending time with them, genuinely caring for them. This isn’t the only thing that may set pastors apart (for instance, as reliable information becomes increasingly scarce or hard to discern, pastors have opportunity to lead there as well, such as in their preaching). Moreover, this is what’s always defined good pastoring. It’s not new. But I suspect it may receive new appreciation.

The last 50 years of evangelicalism have oriented us to prioritize sermons, content, and information. When you think about evangelicalism over this period, these are the elements that often rise to the top. But I wonder if in the future, these things will be so ubiquitous that people will gravitate—whether they realize it or not—toward actual human connection. And how much more as our digital age accelerates loneliness and lack of community. Will people increasingly seek out pastors who, even if they lack the most polished “content,” are involved in their lives and care for them?