Something disturbing is happening in our once-solid Christian cultural spaces: a nonhuman, algorithm-driven act is topping the Christian charts while real believers and worship leaders watch. Forrest Frank, a respected Christian artist, publicly warned his followers that this top-charting act isn’t a person and bluntly reminded Christians that “AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it,” urging believers to pause and consider whether this is what we want in places of worship and praise.
The AI persona known as Solomon Ray — credited with the album Faithful Soul and songs like Find Your Rest and Goodbye Temptation — has claimed chart success and huge streaming numbers, even as the project’s images and vocals appear to be machine-generated rather than the fruit of human hearts and hands. Reports identify the project as an AI creation orchestrated by an artist behind the scenes, which should make every honest Christian pause about where we place our trust and our worship.
Not everyone agrees with Frank’s alarm, and Christian hip-hop artist Derek Minor pushed back with a practical argument: tools have always been used in service of worship, and Christians can use technology to create if their motives and fruits point to Christ. Minor reminded people that many beloved Christian songs involved nonbelievers, studio hands, or outside writers, and that God has historically used imperfect vessels — a reminder that the theology of means matters, but the question of authenticity does not disappear.
Those are fair points about tools and calling, but they do not erase real dangers. AI-generated music that mimics human artists risks deception, erodes the livelihoods of working musicians, and can be weaponized by bad actors or corporations more interested in profit than truth, especially when images and voices are synthesized to look like a person from a vulnerable community. Christians who care about stewardship, honest labor, and the sanctity of worship should be wary of a rush to embrace AI in sacred spaces without strict guardrails.
We should be clear-eyed and proactive: churches, Christian labels, and listeners need transparency about what they’re consuming and supporting, and our communities should demand labeling, consent for the use of real artists’ likenesses, and protections for creatives who sweat and sacrifice to make ministry real. Forrest Frank’s plea to “pause” is not technological fear-mongering so much as a call for discernment and moral leadership from people who shepherd souls and steward culture.
At the end of the day, patriotic Christians ought to stand with human artists who pour their lives into worship and truth, push back against any industry that tries to replace flesh-and-blood ministers with cold algorithms, and insist that our worship remain live, accountable, and Spirit-led. Buy music from real people, support artists who honor Christ, and pressure leaders — both in the church and in tech — to set limits before a marketplace of convenience becomes a graveyard for honest Christian art.
