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PREACHING SKILLS Plagiarism, Shmagiarism The why and when of giving credit Craig Brian Larson

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Abilities
Citing sources is also about honesty because hearers test our mettle as ministers based on our words, so we must not misrepresent our abilities, in particular for the sake of ambition ("Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men," [Proverbs 22:29]).

One survey respondent who understands the potential for misrepresentation says he cites a source when it "is too original or unique for my limited creativity. " The apostle Paul followed this principle, conducting his ministry in a way that "no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Credit
But many preachers doubt the legitimacy of giving credit. One survey respondent asks: "Are we kingdom focused or not?" Another says, "It's all God's anyway." Still another, "It isn't about me or someone getting credit; it's about the kingdom of God."

True, preaching is ultimately all about the kingdom, and all biblical preaching is "from him and through him and to him" (Romans 11:36). The preaching gift comes from God, the message and results come from God, and the glory returns in the end to God. Even so, God has chosen that humans receive credit for their works, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

In fact, sooner or later, God will make sure everyone gets precisely the credit his or her works deserve. "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."Proverbs 31 says of the virtuous woman, "Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Likewise, 1 Timothy 5:17 rests on the principle of people receiving credit for good work: "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." (See also Philippians 2:29.)

Apparently giving credit to humans in a godly way does not diminish God's glory. Human credit and God's glory are not necessarily competitive or mutually exclusive.

Notice, 1 Timothy 5:17 uses the word work. Survey respondents frequently based the need for citing sources on the rights that come from work. One said, "Although it is not copyrighted, it is still someone else's work." Another mentions sources "because it is the work of one person, and they should be credited for it." Another says, "Claiming someone else's work as your own is always wrong. " In Luke 10:7 Jesus legitimizes the idea that work gives certain rights to the worker: "Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages."

I like one definition I read for work: work is creating value. That idea explains the phrase "sermon stealing." Someone else has worked hard and as a result has created words of value. To use those words without crediting the worker is to take something of value. To take something of value is to steal.

Reproach
Finally, if for no other reason, preachers must mention sources because God calls us to be above reproach. In our culture's ethic, people apply roughly the same standard to sermon writing as they do to journalistic, literary, or academic writing. To stay above reproach, preachers cannot have a lower standard than the general culture.

One respondent objects: "In today's world, we all share information—including sermons. I use other people's ideas, and they use mine." In other words, the cultural standard has actually softened considerably because of the Internet—it's a copy-and-paste world.

Nonetheless, while plagiarism has certainly increased, it has only ramped up the ethical concern of those in academia, publishing, and business. I recently heard one professor say he searches the Internet when a student's paper makes him suspicious, and he catches plagiarists every semester. I also heard of a pastor in trouble because church members had searched the Internet and found the sermons he had been preaching without giving credit.

With these four fundamentals in hand—we must be true to what hearers assume about speakers, we must not misrepresent ourselves, we must not take credit for someone else's work, and we must be above reproach—we are ready to answer the tough calls about citing sources.

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	Average Rating:  by 2 members. (Members, please login to rate this item.) Abram Kielsmeier-Jones   (Registered User) Posted: August 06, 2009 This is very helpful--thank you! Jack High   (Registered User) Posted: June 22, 2009 Many times I have used illustrations, because they are good ones, that are so commonly known I am not sure where they come from. Sometimes I read them in a sermon someone else has given, but I know that I have heard them before -- earlier than the date that this preacher preached this sermon. I guess I do not believe that if you take a three point outline, putting most of your own sub-points and material under the main three, that this requires saying that the general three points came from someone else. But I have no objection to that. If I use direct quotations, I always cite. If I use a point someone else has made with a Scripture, I will not necessarily cite if it is sufficiently put in my own words. Whenever I use a personal illustrations -- not a generic one, I cite the source, because I want to be clear that this happened to someone else not to me. Only two or three times have I preached a sermon whole and then always giving full credit to the original preacher.