The Internet is changing the landscape of preaching. Congregants now have access to thousands of preachers and many preachers feel the pressure of comparison against the best and brightest. How are some of these pastors responding? By using the same material from the most popular of preachers. There was an article (originally in the Wall Street Journal, but reprinted in the San Diego Union-Tribune) about the use of sermon resources, sermon manuscripts and other resources in the preparation of your sermon. Here is the start:
The Rev. Brian Moon says he has come up with ideas for his sermons after water-skiing, while watching “My Name Is Earl” on TV and while working on his 1969 Buick muscle car. He also finds inspiration on the Internet, as he did in August when he preached about “God's math.”
“People are drowning, drowning in their marriages, drowning in their careers, drowning in hurtful habits,” Moon told his congregation at Church of the Suncoast, in Land o' Lakes, Fla. “They need someone to rescue them and bring them on the raft. They need people driven by God's addition.”
Those words, it turns out, were first uttered three years ago by the Rev. Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. His Web site, creativepastors.com, sells transcripts of this and others sermons for $10 each.
Moon says he delivered about 75 percent of Young's sermon, “just because it was really good.” That included a white-water rafting anecdote similar to Young's in the original. Moon, who has now been a pastor for seven months, didn't give credit to Young, and he makes no apologies for using a recycled sermon.
“Truth is truth, there's no sense reinventing the wheel,” Moon says. “If you got something that's a good product, why go out and beat your head against the wall and try to come up with it yourself?”
These days, a lot of preachers would agree. The sermon – an oration traditionally expressing the thoughts of the cleric doing the talking – has entered the age of reruns. Topics and transcripts are available on sites like sermoncentral.com, pastors.com, sermonspice.com, and desperatepreacher.com. In the old days, when a preacher wanted to pinch a sermon, he had to consult a book, a magazine or a sermon anthology.
Read entire article: Pulpit polemic: Recycled sermons are on the mount (Suzanne SatalineTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Should pastors use other people's sermon manuscripts? What resources should a pastor be able to use for preaching? Are other sermons similar to commentaries? This is pretty convicting for me as an occasional preacher (and this also applies to blog posts). How often do I say something that is 'truly original'? When I prepare a sermon, I study the Bible, read books, listen to sermons and often there is much I've gathered from others that influences what I preach. When should I 'quote/give credit' to someone? If someone gave you an idea for the 'direction' of the sermon but you write it on your own? Lately, I try to credit those who influenced the sermon at the bottom of my text regardless of directly (word-for-word) or indirectly (influence). But I'm sure there are times when I read something and use it later, forgetting who the idea came from.
Some thougths:
A pastor who plagiarizes sermons is clearly not fulfilling his primary responsibility. He is not investing time and effort in studying the Word, in understanding the Word, and in helping others understand what God has taught him. Furthermore, he is being unethical in allowing his congregation to believe that the sermons he delivers are his own work.
Plagiarism In The Pulpit Challies
The essence of plagiarism is to give the impression that the ideas or words of another person are actually your own. This can be done intentionally (in which case it is outright theft) or unintentionally-but either way it is wrong.
What is plagiarism? Desiring God Ministries
Other Resources:
How to Use Other Preachers' Material Without Compromising Your Integrity
