THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM
The Wall Street Journal printed an article entitled: That Sermon You Heard on Sunday May Be From the Web; November 15, 2006; Page A1. Although the article seemed to focus on the ethics of plagiarism, what I found most disturbing was the allegation that many preachers frequently look outside of a personal experience with God for their sermon material. I was so intrigued by the thought that I conducted a bit of my own research. I Googled the question: “where should a preacher get his sermons.” Low and behold, the first thing that popped up was the Wall Street Journal article on preacher plagiarism. I thought my Google search was going to really pay off. As I continued to search through the first two pages of findings, however, my hopes faded: everything else was about how to preach or how to get a free sermon. It would seem that there is a general consensus in Christendom that it is perfectly acceptable for a preacher to look, for a sermon, outside of his personal relationship with God.
Now I will admit that it seems understandable for a preacher to find sermon ideas in nature and in society; but only as such events transpire under the Lordship and gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also understandable that sermons shared for the purpose of edification and a broadening of our theological knowledge could be a source of inspiration for a sermon. What I find most disturbing, however, is the general acceptance of preachers using another person’s sermon, almost verbatim. In a Ministry Matters article entitled Plagiarism and Preaching, posted on March 12th, 2012, Richard C. Stern makes the statement: “Plagiarism is one of the most likely factors to be included on a list of ethical practices for preachers, and yet it is also the one most likely to be violated.” I ask you: How can this be? In every other medium or field of endeavor such action would be considered very unethical; even when credit was given to the original source. A preacher building from the theme of another’s sermon is one thing but outright preaching of the other man’s sermon is seriously questionable.
Let us set aside the question of plagiarism and ethics; so that we might look deeper into the issue of a preacher frequently obtaining sermon material outside of his personal relationship with God. According to scripture, a preacher is a herald and a messenger. As a herald, the preacher is under the authority of God to proclaim to the people the will of God and our need for obedience. As a messenger, the preacher is to take to the people a message that comes from his personal relationship with the Godhead. Thus, a preacher is supposed to be in communication with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If the man is truly called by God, he has been given Jesus’ authority to share with the people the message he has gleaned from scripture and from his Christian walk. Paul told Timothy that he needed to work hard and study so that he could stand before God as a servant who is approved; as a servant who rightly handles the word of truth and thus has no need to be ashamed. Paul told Timothy to avoid meaningless messages and worldly words that would bring confusion to the people. (2 Timothy 2:14-26) In other words, a preacher should simply share with the people a clear message that originated in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me propose that the root of this problem originates in the fact that men are preaching from a head-knowledge about Jesus and not from a heart-relationship with Jesus. I believe this proposal is validated because of the preponderance of literature and internet traffic dedicated to instructions for writing and delivering a sermon. It is both amusing and frustrating when you take into consideration the level of academic advice given to organizing a sermon; using the right words; and speaking in a professional matter. It is almost as if these so-called bible scholars were of the opinion the Holy Spirit went into retirement when the last Apostle died. They also seem to forget that we are working on the foundation built by Jesus and the Apostles. The Apostle Paul, for example, did not preach to the Corinthians with lofty speech or wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Why? He preached so that the people’s faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5) Paul knew that the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20) And, power does not come from head knowledge about Jesus; power comes from a close disciple relationship with Jesus.
CONCERN
Please understand, I would be honored if anyone were to preach a sermon I wrote or I had preached. Plagiarism is not the issue, in fact, we all plagiarize the bible. My concern is for the slothful preacher who plagiarizes because he has a limited relationship with Jesus. To begin with, there is the hidden danger of the slothful preacher getting caught up in irreligious libertine doctrine. If a man is too slothful to develop a strong relationship with Jesus, then he will probably be so spiritually illiterate that he will not recognize false doctrine when he reads it. And, America is full of powerful preachers who have built an empire out of a false doctrine that tickles the ears of parishioners. Every Sunday these false teachers bring to the pulpit a sermon designed to entertain the people what they want to hear. This evil is compounded by the slothful preacher who propagates this lie by plagiarizing the false preacher’s sermon. In my humble opinion, these slothful men are either ignorant or they have absolutely no fear of God.
My second concern is over the hidden danger of replacing a Jesus relationship with a church-tradition relationship. Slothful men can be of the opinion that grandpa’s method of communicating the word of God was good enough for him and it is good enough for me. Grandpa stood behind the pulpit and delivered a 30 or 40 minute authoritarian lecture, which demanded that Christians obey the bible message. For generations this form of preaching worked well: with a people who were given to obeying authority. Times have changed! The baby boomer rebellion, combined with a 21st century communications revolution, has produced a people who are not given to blindly accepting church authority. Look around you in church, only the silver hairs will put up with the old authoritarian ways. When Paul preached at the Areopagus he did not demand the Athenians tear down all their statutes of Gods. He simple pointed out that they had a lot of Gods and he wanted to talk to them about their unknown God. (Acts 17:22-34) Paul even went so far as to declare that he was all things to all people that by all means he might save some with the true gospel message. (1 Corinthians 9) Paul had a personal relationship with Jesus and he relied on the Holy Spirit for inspiration and power. It would profit us to remember that the Holy Spirit has not gone into retirement. The Holy Spirit is alive and well; inspiring new generations to seek spiritual truth just as much as any past generation. But, the new generations have shut their ears to the old traditional stiff-necked authoritarian style of preaching.
CONCLUSION
In summary, if you are a slothful preacher who looks for sermons outside of a personal relationship with Christ you are walking in a minefield of snake oil and authoritarian feces. Be advised, irreligious libertine preachers prostitute themselves to subjective authority and, in its evil lusts, morph scripture into a warm and fuzzy story, which biblically illiterate people find entertaining. On the other hand, you just might find yourself wallowing in the cesspool of old dictatorial lectures, which will choke the life out of the new generations. Be forewarned slothful preacher, scripture does not call us to entertain the people and it does not demand we remain chained to grandpa’s style of preaching.
Wake up slothful preacher; you are responsible for being God’s messenger. The message you bring to the people should come from your relationship with God. God neither called you to bow to the desires of a people who worship the past nor to entertain people with demon-inspired prosperity lies. Remember, when we let the will of the people numb our minds to the reality of what we preach, we have become sluggards who follow the lusts of the people and not the will of God. In the power of the Holy Spirit, break free from your fellowship fetters and look to God for inspiration. Yes, you will face rejection by a rebellious people; but every fiber of your being will come alive. If you resist the will of man and embrace the will of God His word will flood you with messages for the people. You will become God’s messenger.
You who reject this advice … I humbly remind you now: One day the sluggards will all stand before the Lord and cry out: “I was a preacher and I faithfully preached to the people every Sunday.” But the Lord will reply: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye worker of iniquity.”
