Plagiarism?

Recently we had a conversation in a Chapel interns meeting about pastors and originality. The brunt of the issue discussed was whether it is appropriate for a pastor to use material in a sermon without citing where the information was coming from. For instance, is if appropriate for me to read a book by NT Wright, and then teaching his ideas to a congregation without letting them know where I got it from (implying that I was the original thinker).

Con: The argument for the side that says it is wrong says its dishonest for a pastor to speak something that is not theirs as if it is theirs; this is stealing. This argument is much like the argument against plagiarism in academic, published, and professional writing. For a pastor to get up front and say something and not let the congregation know where they got it from, leads towards a false sense of the pastor's knowledge. There is a responsibility to be people of integrity and let people know when you're 'borrowing' somebody's material.

Pro: The argument for the side that says its not a big deal, comes from the fact that everybody is doing it and we all realize that pastors are reading and studying. If they are studying we should expect them to We realize that what they preach is not original. Its not important they they originally though it. Its important that they are proclaiming it to us. We expect that they got it from some research they found, a book they read or something like that in the hours they spend hiding in their office.

*I personally think both sides are right. I have never assumed when I heard my pastors make comments in church were making stuff up. I guess my understanding has always been they read that somewhere. What I guess I have always questioned is when pastor just straight-up preach somone else's sermons; that's a bit too much. In response to this, it was pointed out by a mentor that the early Methodist ministers simply preached Wesley's sermons...nobody had a problem with that.

What do you think?

preaching-pt. 1.

One issue I am personally working through is with the discipline of preaching. I have gone to church my whole life, attended a Christian High School, went to church camp every summer, went to a Christian college, traveled for that Christian college to more Christian camps, and now am going to seminary. In all of these places I have encountered preaching; some good, some bad, some ...ehh. The one big issue I have with preaching is that I feel it is very hit and miss. I feel like the main reason a pastor preaches a particular sermon is, "That's a great idea!", "What church season is this?", or "My people need to hear this!." This leads to scattered preaching, repetitive series, and under-developed listeners. I think we need to re-think our concept of the sermon.

Personally, I feel the big problem is too few pastors do not ask how this week's sermon connect with a sermon from last year, or one from five years ago, or my first sermon. Their preaching is not taking their listeners anywhere! It is merely a Bible teaching that stands alone, or as a part of a series that for the most part stands alone. Here are a few reasons why I think this is so:

• Pastors, at least from my viewpoint, fail to have a plan for their sermons. Here, I'm not talking about short term planning. I'm talking about long term planning. Most pastors develop quality series. They are good at writing powerful sermons, but they seem to be continually circling the proverbial wagons. They don't seem to have a plan for where they want to be taking their people long term. 


• Pastors, at least from my viewpoint, preach from a position of how do my people want to hear this, as opposed to what do my people want to hear. The focus seems to be on creative presentations as opposed to the actual content of what's being presented. Some of the most creative sermons I've been a part of have been the most shallow, but some of the most creative sermons I've listened to have been the most life changing! Creativity does not equal quality, they have no bearing upon each other. Strive for BOTH!


• Pastors, at least from my viewpoint, are merely digging to find something to speak about for next week. They've been at it for so long, they struggle to find something new and profound to say. They are tired and worn out from the endless search to be creative. They feel like they had said it all - and there is nothing new under the sun - so where is my next message going to come from? At some level being creativity has burned them out.


• Pastors, at least from my viewpoint, look up to their favorite preacher (i.e. John Maxwell, JD Walt) and attempt to think like them, communicate like they do, model their sermons with their own. I've been there. The problem is that nobody can be JD except JD. To try and be like someone else, forces one to spend countless hours asking, "How would JD say this?" or "What Would JD Do?" (they actually have wrist-bands that help "JD-ites" focus...), instead of being genuine when on stage.
  

In my quest, I am asking myself (in this order), 'Why preach?', 'What should we be attempting to accomplish?', 'Where does this church need to go?', 'How can I say this in a better way?', 'Who should we be?', 'When should I teach this?'