CREEDE HINSHAW: Thou shalt not steal … sermons

If you are sitting in the pew does it matter whether a pastor plagiarizes a sermon or a Bible study lesson? With current technology anybody can lift entire sermons on the internet, preaching or teaching them word for word, idea for idea without ever giving credit. Does anybody care?

The word plagiarism comes from the Latin word meaning kidnapper. Thus a person who knowingly steals material from others without attributing the source is guilty of serious moral failure. No petty theft, the act of plagiarizing has brought down gifted authors and influential political leaders. Those guilty rarely use the word plagiarize, preferring to say they “borrowed” the material.

To be fair to the thief, after 2,000 years of Christian preaching and another 1,000 years of Jewish teaching, there are few original thoughts left out there and most original thoughts these days probably fall on the wild side.

Every preacher is heavily influenced by others. The same is true for every artist, architect, musician and author. We build on the work of others. My mentor was the Rev. Dr. Bill Hinson, one of the most creative and compelling preachers in Methodism and pastor of Albany First United Methodist Church back in the 1980s. I found myself emulating his preaching style and using some of his stories and ideas. But I always gave him credit from the pulpit.

The Eighth Commandment identifies stealing as a major sin. Using somebody else’s thoughts/outline/sermon stories or clever illustrations without attribution is nothing less than theft. Those who plagiarize give a congregation the impression that they have worked out their sermons as a result of prayerful study when, in reality, they have lifted them from elsewhere.

Maybe the worst thing about plagiarism is that it is a very deceptive and tempting short cut for the preacher or Bible teacher. And shortcuts cannot help that pastor develop the difficult, time-consuming discipline of prayerful meditation over the scriptures and their application to daily life. Plagiarism may seem to be a godsend for clergy for whom there are never enough hours in the day, but eventually that which the pastor most needs to develop – integrity and critical thinking skills – will go lacking because of the thievery.

It’s fairly easy to figure out if somebody is stealing material. Computer programs can identify when a potential preacher has stolen his/her material, but only accrediting groups need something this sophisticated. Anybody in the pew, curious about whether their pastor has “borrowed” material, can Google a couple of key phrases to determine whether the pulpiteer has plagiarized.

Few of us are original thinkers and sometimes plagiarism is in the eye of the beholder. But the pastor (and the columnist!) ought to err on the side of caution. It never hurts to give credit to sources. A tip of the hat to another author or thinker is a good thing; most people respect careful attribution. It’s time to stop kidnapping and I’m sure I’m not the first person to write this.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].