30 "Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares.' 32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least," declares the LORD. -- Jeremiah 23:30-32.
Steve Sjogren advocates sermon stealing on the Rick Warren web page. Instead of being original, putting in the hard study time, laboring to forge a godly message through the prism of your own character, Sjogren says it’s better to steal from sermons that work, that are effective. Although it reads like a parody, it is serious--and it is a serious, serious, and pernicious sin.
We are commanded by God not to steal. Lifting other people's sermons word-for-word, as the article recommends. is intellectual theft and is based on the idolatry of imitating "effective" preachers (read: megachurch pulpiteers). It is nothing less than the worship of "effectiveness," which translates as: get big numbers with minimal effort and integrity optional. In fact, according to the larcenous Sjogren, sermonic integrity just gets in the way and wastes time.
Yes, all preachers learn from and quote other preachers. A few undocumented phrases here and there are no sin. In my Sunday sermon, I quoted Daniel Boorstin's line that celebrities are "well know for being well know." When people responded more than I anticipated, I said I got that from a social critic. Otherwise, I may not have mentioned the source. Further, some basic ideas came from a book by R.C. Sproul (The Holiness of God), which was cited in the "recommended reading" section of my sermon outline given to the congregation. When I quoted Matthew Henry, his name was mentioned. However, if one takes credit for large sections of others people's work, not putting in their own time before the sacred text, one can only pity them and their followers.
No, we can do more than pity them. We can call them to "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand," as Jesus said. As John the Baptist thundered, "Bear fruit worthy of repentance." That means, confess your theft; renounce the ungodly counsel, and start working as unto the Lord, who searches hearts and minds. That includes those who sell their sermons: first and foremost Rick Warren. You should not sell what others should not buy.
Do we wonder why there is so little spiritual power and wisdom in America's pulpits? Many "worship services" worship market share, attendance numbers, and giving units, as opposed to a "holy, holy, holy" God (Isaiah 6:1-3). The First Church of the Golden Calf was more "effective" (for a season) than The First Church of Moses and God. Until we start to preach, and teach, and worship before "the audit of Eternity" (Kierkegaard), all our efforts are but wood, hay, and stubble. May God have mercy on us and revive us again.
[I was alerted to this egregious article through this article on "pastoral plagiarism."]
Wow...Doug you are so right that this seems almost like a parody. Are you sure it isn't? So much for pastoral integrity!
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I have been down this road on another blog - the link is worth pursuing to see the discussion on the nature of pastoral plagarism. What is perhaps worse than the plagarism itself is the amount of people defending the practice!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/08/word_for_word_w.html
PS - I had made some strong comments against the practice, but they were 'censored' by the 'blogmaster'
What was it C. S. Lewis said in 'The Weight of Glory'. . .
ReplyDelete(a paraphrase because my copy's not accessible right now): the problem is not that we expect too much but that we settle for too little
Two points that my Presbyterian-minister wife made after she read the article (although the precise words are mine):
ReplyDelete1. If there is nothing wrong with preaching the sermons of others, why doesn't Sjogren encourage the "borrowing" pastors to be honest about it with his or her congregation? Yet for some reason this isn't part of the advice given. (For the record, my wife, who for the past year has been the solo pastor of a small Presbyterian church, said she can understand how congregational emergencies can occasionally make it very hard to find enough time in the week to write a good sermon; she wouldn't hold it against a pastor, who at the end of such a week, was frank with her congregation about her situation and then presented a published sermon, acknowledging the source. (She has never done this, by the way.)
2. Sjogren also clearly implies that, when it comes to congregations, size matters. In his examples, successful churches and large congregations are equated. As if putting butts in the pews...er, padded arena seats, is the primary mark of success in the ministry. Unbelievable.
Tom:
ReplyDeleteThat is a good perspective from your wife. Parish realities often make studied sermons difficult. Time just runs out. But better a less than stellar genuine sermon by the preacher herself than a stolen sermon by another preacher.
One might say, "It's been a tough week, brothers and sisters. So, I am substantially relying on the ideas of Preacher X in this message." That is not plagiarism, but honesty about the fact that this sermon is not very original.
The megachurch mentality is crassly pragmatic: do what brings in people. If your church is small, it is unsuccessful. Numerical growth is always good. Of course, one cannot find these sensibilities in the Bible. Jesus referred to his early followers as his "little flock." The way is narrow.
Of course, we want everyone to repent, accept Jesus for who he is, and strive to live biblically through the Holy Spirit. But the means must be in accord with the ends: the increased manifestation of the Kingdom of God in our midst. The kingdom of marketing, hype, style, and methods, is something else entirely, the "worldly wisdom" that James excoriates in chapter one.
Amen, Dr. Groothuis! I agree that it is pragmatic approaches that drive this approach. From emails snet to me it is occurring with increasing frequency with significant damage to churches especially since pastors are able to quote articles like the one mentioned as support for their practice. I hope these conversations will help expose this error for the good of the church.
ReplyDelete