FOR THE WALL · FOR THE TABLE
A Family Manifesto for the Age of AI
Short enough to print and pin near the table. We read it now and then, so the tools stay in their place and the people stay in theirs.
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
— James 1:22 (KJV)
- Scripture first. No tool stands above the Word. The Bible is read, not summarised away; prayer is prayed, not delegated.
- The Lord is the teacher. AI may fetch and arrange. It cannot disciple. We learn from the Spirit, the Scriptures, and the church.
- People before screens. The face at the table outranks the face on the glass. We look up first.
- We verify before we trust. A confident answer is not a true one. We check what a machine tells us, especially about God.
- We tell the truth about our tools. What AI helped make, we say so. We do not pass its words off as our own.
- We guard the children. We teach them that voices and pictures can be made up, and that being known by God is better than being seen by everyone.
- We keep the Sabbath of attention. There are hours and rooms where the tools are set down, and the household simply rests.
- We refuse the hurry. No streak, no notification, no feed sets our pace. The slow work of God is still the real work.
- We give thanks. For minds that can build such things, and for the wisdom to use them gently, we are grateful.
- We hold it all loosely. These are tools, not treasures. Our treasure is elsewhere, and our hope is in Christ.
"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
— Colossians 3:17 (KJV)
Signed, the household — and any household that would keep it.