The Pastor and Plagiarism

From Jesus Creed:

There has been some recent news of pastors losing there pulpit over plagiarism. The post over at Jesus Creed has some helpful thoughts and comments to understand what plagiarism is and what it isn't. Here is a quote.."So, the sermon is highly biblical, highly personal, highly local, and highly temporal: it is the individual preacher engaging God and Bible and congregation, in that specific location, for that time.

...which brings up the philosophical issue: Is there not nothing new under the sun? Well said. To be sure, nearly every sermon emerges from books and sermons and ideas and all sorts of things that were used. But it is bricolage, it is quilting, it is convergence — it is precisely those things and not simple usage of others. It brings together other people’s ideas and says so if it is substantial; but it is a uniquely personal, local, and temporal bringing of those things together. Taking someone’s sermon destroys the bricolage and turns it into a canned, deceitful act of creating a false image in front of God’s people.

Now let’s be honest: sermons don’t have footnotes and need not. You need not end each separable idea with a “I got this point from Ortberg and this one from Niebuhr and that one from Bonhoeffer.” We all use things from others in sermons, and when we use a lot from someone about some point, we say so. By and large the congregation doesn’t care about that. But, I think they expect the preacher to be preaching his or her own sermon and not someone else’s"

This is a helpful thought. Plagiarism is when we rip off an entirre sermon or large portion of one, with out credit. But it is more than not giving credit. It robs both the pastor and the congregation from a sermon that has passed through the pastor's heart and soul. But it is unreasonable and downright silly to assume that a sermon is merely an exposition of entirely original thoughts. A pastor of course is using commentaries, illustrations and thoughts from their reading and study. I think Spurgeon said it best,

"You ought to graze on everybody’s pasture, but give your own milk."