Sermonic Plagiarism

Great post and reflection by Brent Thomas about pastors plagiarizing sermons. Brent is responding to an article written by Steve Sjogren at Pastor.com which seems to advocate pastors using other pastors' material.

Of course, every pastor does this to some degree. There is some debate about how much original thought there is these days. We all read commentaries, and other theologians and pastors as we prepare to preach. However, my own rule of thumb is that I will always give credit where credit is due.

For example, at an installation service yesterday for my friend and colleage, Adam Donner, I preached about the discipleship cycle in Mark's gospel. This was an old idea from our Inter Varsity Mark Manuscript days. But I first heard it, or read about it, from Dr. William Lane. I had recently heard some old "lectures" by William Lane on the podcast by Michael Card, who had been mentored by Bill Lane. My first class at seminary was on Mark's gospel, taught by visiting professor William Lane. So, I adapted Lane's points, and passed them on in my brief sermon. However, I did give credit to him for the initial ideas behind the sermon.

That I understand. But to steal someone else's sermon, and preach it as one's own, makes little sense to me. It removes the authenticity and the power of it, as sermons are living things, preached in a particular context, to a particular people, by a partcular person. One can duplicate the words, but not the context. And there is no such thing as a contextless sermon, try as we might to create one.

Nice job, Brent. Keep up the good work.