Under Surveillance: What A.I. and A.P.—the Apostle Paul—Know About You

There’s a Chinese startup named Watrix A.I. that claims its gait-recognition system hits about 94 % accuracy in identifying individuals simply by their walk. The system uses a “gait-pattern,” meaning the subconscious rhythm of someone’s movement: the length of their step, the angle of their arms, how their hips rotate, and how the body leans or recovers with each stride. Put plainly, even without seeing a face or hearing a voice, this system argues it can recognize you from the way you walk.

A.I. is Watching Your Walk

I should note that peer-reviewed research has not verified Watrix’s claim, so we treat the “94 %” claim as an assertion rather than a proven statistic. The technology is still developing. But, like every field of technology, artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly. The more cameras in our world capture our steps and the sequence of our movements, the more precise the system becomes.

The technology raises serious legal questions. We consent to giving fingerprints, DNA, even face scans—but a camera might identify us from a distance without needing our permission. Like it or not, we will soon be legally identified just by the way we walk.

A.P. - the Apostle Paul - says Others are Watching Your Walk

It was not a stretch for me to recall how Scripture uses the metaphor of one’s “walk” to describe the way a person lives, the direction their life takes, and the pattern of choices that form their character. In ancient language, we might say that a person’s walk is how they move through the world.

Ephesians is especially rich with this imagery. In fact, Paul builds some of the strongest theology of the letter around that single word.

In Ephesians 2:1–2, he mentions our past walk: “You once walked according to the course of this world.” Our old gait was the shuffle of spiritual death. Sinful habits moved us step by step so that we walked in time with the age of a broken world. But in verse 10, he makes a sharp contrast: “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Jesus gives us a new walk, and Paul defines it quite clearly later on in the letter.

In Ephesians 4:1, he instructs us: “Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Worthy doesn’t mean being flawless. It just means that the believer’s gait ought to match their grace — in other words, the grace they’ve received from God through salvation.

A few verses later, in 4:17, he adds, “You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” The context of the passage suggests that “walking worthy of the calling” is not merely a mental exercise in theory. It means to “put off your old self” and “be renewed in the spirit of your mind. . . put on the new self” (4:22-23).

Then, in chapter 5, Paul gives three striking images:

• “Walk in love, as Christ loved us.” (5:2)
• “Walk as children of light.” (5:8)
• “Walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise.” (5:15)

Each phrase is like an added level of maturity—love, light, wisdom. It’s the rhythm and movement of a redeemed life. Your walk is your testimony in motion. It’s the daily evidence of the work that is happening inside of you.

Patterns from a Distance

Modern technology can recognize a person by their walk, even from a distance—and that ability is improving every single day. Cameras are everywhere, quietly observing, collecting, and compiling data.

Similarly, people are watching our walk. Even from a distance, they notice the pattern of our lives—the way we speak, react, forgive, and serve. The rhythm of a believer’s life is unmistakable. The walk of a follower of Christ reveals who we serve — one step at a time.

Listen carefully. The Christian life isn’t proven by a moment of belief but by a lifetime of motion. Our daily walk is the visible evidence of an invisible grace. And while a person might put on a temporary disguise for a short period of time, it is difficult to fake the long-term evidence of our daily walk.

The good news is you don’t have to fake it. Believers walk differently because we’ve been genuinely transformed.