Intelligent Robots?

Robots Intro

Group Question

If you could create a robot what would you want it to do?

Discuss answers

What if it started tripping old people up?

Or kept doing things that cused people to bully you at school?

You ask the robot not to do it - give it some rules but it tells you that in his opinion - it knows better.

It thinks it’s more intelligent than you.

And what your robot thinks is best is to keeps making people cry.

What you do to your robot?

You’d reprogram it - recreate it - or destroy it - turn it off!

What would you do if it was just a little bit mean,

Perhaps it thinks bad things but doesn’t do them?

or

What if it genrally did what you thought was good but hated you - ignored you..

What would you do?

Ultimately - you know best - you made it - you expect and want it to be true to you - not true to itself

You’d be right.

If we create something - it’s up to us what is right and wrong for it.

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

On Friday’s you guys have been thinking about what the bible has to say about our Identity.

Should you be true to yourself?

Or true to God?

And I’ve been asked to think about how ‘Inteligence’ or intelect.

It is often an area we are tempted to put our identity, and certainly a place our world often thinks is the place to find identity.

Obviously most of you are not at any great risk of demonstrating any great inteligence - but it’s still an interesting thought!

What is inteligence?

Who decides what is wise or clever?

The world would say it’s to do with good grades, clever scientific advancements, running an impressive company, or leading a country well with politics.

All of those things are certainly related in one sense.

But true intelligence - true wisdom is to know what is ultimately true or not.

You see your robots that thought they knew better than you might have thought they were intelligent

- but if they believed different things to how they were created they would be breaking the ultimate wisdom and truth.

And so we’d destroy it or reprogram it, recreate it.

And so it is with human beings - you and me.

God created men and women - and no matter how clever we are at taking exams, or impressive we are in debate club,

unless we know and follow and believe all that our creator has made us to be - we’ve lost the plot somewhere.

And God will need to recreate us or destroy us.

Romans 1 21-32 explains what God thinks about our thinking!

Romans 1:28–32 (NIV)

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

We are the robots who are foolish not wise.

There is no hope in identifying in our inteligence - or anyone elses - becasue we have all rejected the ulitmate truth of God!

So bad is our inteligence or wisdom that God gives us over to those terrible things.

If you think you’re so smart - have what you want!

And as a result of human wisdom - the world is a terrible and messed up place.

Our own wisdom or intelligence leads to a sinful and evil world - lots of those things we just read we see at school and in our world - and in our own lives!

Messed up relationships, confused gender identities, people looking for answers in science.

Bullying, social media hate.

All that doesn’t disprove God - it proves what he says here.

If you’re so smart - have what you want!

He’s given us to those things becasue we keep rejecting him.

We think we’re smart - we are not!

True wisdom - is to trust and respect - even fear the one who created us - like our robot should have feared us!

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fearing the Lord means we respect him,

we know we have disobeyed him and need his forgiveness.

So our identity is not in intelligence,

but in the only way to find the forgiveness of God - so we’re not judged and destroyed by him,

but instead we are lovingly reprogrammed - re created - made new!

Our only identity then is in Christ Jesus who makes us right with our creator.

Do you want to be the robot who is destroyed by the creator in judgement?

Or the one who is reprogrammed - rebooted - given new life by Jesus the only true and eternally wise and intelligent man - the son of God.

Repent, say sorry to God, humble yourselves.

Identify in Jesus - not in anything else.

Pray

Questions

What do people at school ‘think’ about God?

If God created us all why do you think God allows such bad behaviour towards each other and Him?

Read Rom 1v28. It says that people don’t think it’s important to know God so God lets them believe their own lies. What does this sort of ‘intelligence’ lead to? (Have a look through verse 29-32)

What will happen if we put our identity in our ‘intelligence’?

Who should our identity be in and how do we do that?