Look Lord, My Sermon Collection!
Written May 28th, 2008 by Josh Rives | Email This
“Duplication for resale prohibited. Duplication for ministry purposes encouraged.” That is the statement on the bottom of a CD of sermons I have from Denton Bible Church. Using other material in churches is nothing new. Bible studies have been passed around and even sold for a while now. When I was working in youth ministry, our youth pastor purchased a curriculum that we used as a guide for what to teach in small groups and on Sundays.
I wonder though if there is a limit for copying material. Have you ever sat in a sermon and thought, “I’ve heard that illustration before.” Anytime a pastor starts out with a story about some young kid in class, I can guess what’s coming. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard variants of John Piper’s “look Lord my shell collection.” I won’t lie and say I’ve never borrowed material. I even changed details, like many pastors, in order to make it personal. Pastors do that because a personal anecdote has more impact.
Where is the line (if there is one)? What about when every small town church in America was doing 40 days of Purpose? What if a pastor purchased the transcript of a sermon online, then repeated it with the same voice inflection and dramatic pauses at those crucial moments? There are quite a few sites where you can do this and there are quite a few pastors who have been using this method. Some pastors have even lost their jobs when their congregation found out.
Are these pastors just utilizing those who have been given the gift of expository preaching and creative imagery? (1 Corinthians 12:12-30) Or does the pastor have a responsibility to his congregation, who pays him, to meditate and interpret the Scriptures specifically for them? (Acts 6:2-4, 1 Peter 5:1-2) There seems to be a celebrity status given recently to head pastors of large churches. Maybe if we didn’t seek out celebrity preachers in a church, then others wouldn’t feel so much pressure to entertain. (1 Timothy 5:17-18)
Another quick worst case scenario thought…what if only a few “gifted” pastors are writing the content, then pastors around the world are preaching it word for word. How much power does that put in the hands of the writers? They are no longer writing for 10 thousand but 10 million or more.
I’m just wondering are pastors really hearing the Word, and doing their study and receive revelation for their flock… or stealing sermons… hmmm… I would like to think that if I am connected to God, I would always have something to say from God, because God is eternal, 24/7? That’s what I would think.
I recall reading an article in the Wittenberg Door, “In praise of bad preaching.” The point was that the sermons aren’t as important as the relationship the pastor has with the congregation. Young ministers don’t have much experience to draw from, and may need the help of packaged illustrations, which certainly makes exposition more palatable. I email my sermons to some of my pastor-friends, in the hope that they’ll find something they can use. After doing the work, one would like to see the effort extended beyond one’s church. Plagerism is serious, but ministers can’t preach with footnotes–too many quotes can be bumps in the road. The references CAN go in the written copy, which some pastors provide afterward.