A reader asked me what I think about a preacher using sermon outlines, stories, and examples from published material by another — with permission but without attribution. In other words, what if your preacher routinely preaches using someone else’s material and give no credit for the other person’s work — but with permission?
There’s no violation of the copyright laws, because the preacher has permission not only to use the material but to use it without attribution. There’s no sin against the original author.
But the preacher is certainly passing off someone else’s work as his own. Is that wrong? Unethical?
By way of background, preachers have been publishing sermon outlines nearly as long as there’ve been printing presses. Some of the great preachers in history have published books of sermons and some have published outlines to serve as aids to other preachers.
Nowadays, the Internet makes this sort of thing all the easier, as outlines can be less than a week old, and some come from truly excellent preachers.
The copyright notices generally give the right to use for non-commercial purposes but say nothing about attribution. They generally encourage the use of the outlines in the reader’s own sermon preparation.
Now, all preachers use commentaries and similar resources, and many use joke books and books of illustrations, which are sold for just that purpose. But is there a line where the use of preparation materials — which most would consider proper and even expected — becomes dishonest, plagiarism, or unfair to the congregation?
I think preachers should be open about the sourcing for their sermons.
I prefer for our preacher to get his material from his personal Bible study and research, and from his hands-on knowledge of the spiritual condition of the congregation. But I also understand (and can relate to) the need to glean ideas from a variety of sources.
OTOH in this business, if you come up with something truly new, it's probably not a good thing! Pretty much everything that can be said has been said by someone else, somewhere, sometime.
If a preacher is "abusing" this practice, by failing to do any serious study and sermon prep on his own, it will ultimately be apparent in some way to some folks.
Other sermons are just as legitimate a resource as videos, jokes, novels, commentaries, etc.
Only a few preachers develop truly original material — but that is true of nearly everyone in every occupation.
Where possible, I believe ethical behavior requires that borrowed material be acknowledged, especially if the ideas borrowed have been expressed recently by someone else. Perhaps one has a better claim to other ideas that may have been a part of his schooling in the more distant past, as they may have become his own. I like the statement Lynn Anderson makes in the "Acknowledgments" at the beginning of one of his books: "Where I have been able to do so, I have given each person [who has helped me] specific credit. However, as time passed, I have forgotten where some ideas came from. Other borrowed material I have lived with so long that I may well be mistaking for my own. Still other ingredients have become so integrated that for me to distinguish between borrowed and original would be as difficult as unbaking a cake."
Have a friend who makes a living speaking across the country and selling books, CD's, etc…heard me speak on a secular topic and wanted to borrow some of the little quips I used…He said, Price, this is how it works in the industry….The first time I used your line I'll say something like, "a friend of mine, Price Futrell, said….", then the next time I decide to use it I'll say something like…."As I've said before….", then finally, I'll probably say…"as I've always said."…
I don't mind where a preacher gets his stuff or how he chooses to present it as long as he's teaching the TRUTH. He is supposed to be TEACHING, so unless he's one in a million, he'll probably ALWAYS need to borrow from other gifted teachers to present the truth…Why re-create the wheel ?? Give credit to God and everybody should be happy. But, if everybody is happy…you're probably not teaching the truth…:)
Every preacher I know (including me) has at times used another's outlines. For the pups it is a part of learning how to make your own and seldom do the old dogs worry about attribution – Its not our stuff anyway, it is the Boss's. One thing that does annoy me and I have caught one of our "Big" speakers doing it more than once is passing off personal stories as your own. I was at one event a few years ago where the originator spoke on one night and the other gentleman spoke the next and both used the same story in the first person. Somewhat awkward. Of course now with powerpoint the outlines have become pretty sparse – my texts along with tags. I'm not sure anyone else could preach from them.
Someone once said (note, see how I attribute this to someone, but I cannot find the actual source, I am pretty sure it goes back to Isaac Newton) "stand on others' shoulders, not on their toes."
I find it odd that in all professions except preaching, it is unethical to use another person's material without giving them credit. In preaching, however, since it all comes from God or is derivative from God, we can steal intellectual property as much as we want.
I have to agree. In my own experience the few times I have straight out preached another's outline the results were flat leaving even me looking at the clock. At some point the material has to be a part of you or it just doesn't wash.
I was sharing concept this with a brother just yesterday. He is just starting out and he likes the stories he reads in a brotherhood periodical. That is fine except they are written by folks who learned to read and write about fifty years ago and they just don't sound natural coming from him. They block his passion.
Of course once upon a time the level of knowledge got so bad that the "Church" forbade local priests to make their own lessons and forced them to use those of the past greats.
All of us that work at a trade served an apprenticeship under someone.
it is easy to observe the craftsmanship or listen to a workman explain a method and know who he served under.
Preachers are no different.
How I would love to have the privilege of hearing each of you posters preach!
While i see there's something fishy about presenting the fruits of someone else's labor as though it is your own, there is something that really, really makes me uncomfortable about calling anything gospel-related my own 'intellectual property.'
–guy
I've never been smart enough to use someone else's outlines. I have used a point or an illustration or even the general way of approaching a sermon.
That being said, I think it deceptive and disrespectful to pass off someone else's stuff as your own. It takes little effort to say, "I read a good sermon by ___ the other day and wanted to share it with you."
I'm curious how people feel about preachers telling stories in the first person when they actually happened to someone else. A friend of mine heard a well-known preacher tell a story about the preacher's grandmother… except that the story was actually my friend's grandmother's story. Lying is lying, in my book.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
I agree with Tim. As I have preached, I have been inspired by ideas from other preachers and have always been able to give attribution without being distracting or obnoxious. My commitments to expository preaching through texts generally prevent any of the kind of egregious stealing of other folks sermons because I am preparing a study of a given text with every new sermon.
One the issue of re-telling stories in the first person, I tend to view this as lying. Surely the preacher can come up with another illustration to serve his purposes rather than resort to this? Even in my 35 years of life, I have had enough wealth of experiences to draw from that I can illustrate a point from what I already know. Or preferably, I like to illustrate from the Bible if possible. The nice thing about biblical illustrations is that they are so many different people and circumstances to draw from that I never feel like I'm going to run out of material. Also, illustrating from the Bible tends to make the illustration more authoritative, if that makes sense.
<div class="idc-message" id="idc-comment-msg-div-154070598"><a class="idc-close" title="Click to Close Message" href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(154070598)"><span>Close Message</span> Comment posted. <p class="idc-nomargin"><a class="idc-share-facebook" onclick="IDC.ui.fb_wrapper(154070598)" href="javascript: void(null)" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="idc-share-inner"><span>Share on Facebook</span></span> or <a href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(154070598)">Close Message It makes perfect sense. 45 years ago I was in a homiletics class under Bill Hatcher. After one of my talks, someone in the class objected that I had no illustrations. Bill immediately came to my defense by pointing out that my illustrations were stories from the Scripture. With Biblical knowledge as low as it is (see my blog, <a href="http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/how-well-do-our-churches-know-the-bible/)," target="_blank"> <a href="http://;http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/…,” target=”_blank”>;http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/…, every opportunity to tell a Bible story with a point helps raise the level of knowledge in the congregation. At least, that's the theory I work from.
Jerry
I'm with Tim on this, I think this is dishonest. I don't know why it would be so difficult just to append an attribution to the beginning of another's personal story (e.g. "I heard a story from <person's name> who tells of a …").
I think this has largely to do with how much of the non-original content you use. There are some people that I have learned so much from that it is hard for me to remember which are my own thoughts and which I learned from them. Ultimately, the learning I gained from others makes me a more persuasive speaker. As Picasso said, "Good artists copy, great artists steal."
If I use anything from other people's content, I use:
1) The high-level structure (e.g. I make the same three points but using my own content)
2) Quotes from those that have more credibility than myself (e.g. a Greek scholar)
3) Quotes from those that made a point far better than I can
My personal guidelines for attributions are:
1) I'll usually note were I got the structure of the sermon from unless I borrowed very little of it. For example, I'll add a "for further study" section at the end of my slide deck that refers to the original work or add a statement like "adapted from …".
2) I always include an attribution for the quotes if I know them (e.g. "Victor Hugo once said …").
I would be curious to hear from others' about what guidelines you use.
If it's not out of lazyness or a lack of comittment to study and do the scriptures yourself, I think it's allright to learn from others as well.
I once just read a sermon from the 2nd century (2nd Clement) to the congregation – adding a few comments hgere and there, but otherwise just reading it. But I do name the sources i quote, because i think that's only fair to those who made them available.
Alexander
Most of us are able to see as far as we do b/c we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Wikipedia comments on the statement above: "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past," a contemporary interpretation. However, the metaphor was first recorded in the twelfth century and attributed to Bernard of Chartres.[1] It was famously uttered by seventeenth-century scientist Isaac Newton.
If we do not take advantage of the work of others we are worse off for it. In the CofC there are times when we need to be careful, depending on the congregation. In some churches a person might use material developed by Jay in Grace Conversation and it might be well received with attribution; or it might generate hostility by some who differed with things written by Jay in Grace conversation if he was credited with having written it – but received well if it were not attributed to Jay. In the CofC there are congregations when even Luther or Calvin are well received – but that's not true all of the time.
So the answer is: It depends.
Hesed,
Randall
Many statements made in the NT are from someones saying it in the OT and who said it in what book was not mentioned. No credit given at all.
So, was that wrong to not give them credit when their sayings (quotes) were repeated?
Is that a sin?
Or is it just possible that as an “industry” we have a tradition of laxity on this point and therefore it is “ok” no matter what others think? I think you will find variations in how several industries apply widely different ethical rules for otherwise similar activities.
I’ve had a number of people ask for permission to use my material without attribution. And I’ve never hesitated to grant permission. It’s a small price to pay for being a change agent.
But if someone were to use a story from my life and speak as though it happened to him, it’s no longer a question of plagiarism or the rights of the author. It’s a question of honesty with the congregation.
I don’t think any congregation anywhere would appreciate the ethics of relating a story as personal when it happened to someone else. The ends don’t justify the means.
Sermon outlines have been borrowed since the beginning of sermon outlines. To take one and make it your own by your own vocabulary, personality and experience is perfectly acceptable.
The problem of many preachers using another sermon word for word stems from the conservative church not stressing and teaching creative writing; in fact, it seems to fear it. So what you have are too many preachers who cannot write; they use the sermons of those who can; or if they simply use an outline it is flat and, to be honest, boring.
The subject of preaching is found in the gospels; the approach to problems through his life, in the epistles; but, if you want to communicate him well, spend time in the Psalms and prophets. Creativity is also of God. We should hunger for it.
In the ideal world, the preacher is learning new material because he is listening to God as part of his walk with God. When we consistently have to resort to using other peoples material then we need to check ourselves to see if our walk with the Lord is dying or has died. As the Lord said in Psalm 81:13, "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!". If we open ourselves up to God teaching us new things, we will overflow with an abundance of fresh new insights.