The Dangers Of Plagiarism

The online site, Dictionary.com, offers one of the more comprehensive yet succinct definitions of plagiarism: “an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author.” Plagiarism is using another pastor’s sermon, or part of his sermon, as though it were our own, essentially a violation of the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). While there are many dangers of plagiarism, I want to focus on four in particular:

1) We May Come Closer To Plagiarizing Than We Realize

In my earlier years of ministry, I occasionally included sermon illustrations I had heard from others in a sermon on the same passage. Most were humorous anecdotes or generally broad illustrations. I didn’t think I was plagiarizing, and to be sure, I probably wasn’t. After all, I never shared an illustration in the first person and felt most of the illustrations conveyed general information. However, I now believe using those illustrations didn’t entirely pass the “smell test.” Using them suggested that I was the first to think of them or that I had not received them from another source. Especially when using an illustration from someone else’s sermon on the same text, it is wise to say something like, “One pastor likened this truth to…” and then share the illustration.

2) We May Plagiarize Unintentionally

Most pastors spend several weekdays reading and researching. They read commentaries, study Bibles, and even listen to sermons others have preached. There is nothing wrong with reading, hearing, or watching the sermons of others so long as we have done our own exegetical work. It’s also best to have a homiletical outline written out before studying the sermons of others so another preacher’s outline does not unduly influence us. And yet, while we may have crafted our own expositions, we may say something from the pulpit without attribution. Perhaps in the heat of sermon delivery, we repeat a phrase read days earlier in a commentary and forgotten, or we use a striking expression heard in another pastor’s sermon that previously lay dormant in our subconscious mind. The point is that it happens, and we can be thankful most members forgive us for these relatively rare blunders.

3) We Rob Ourselves Of The Spirit’s Work

Turning to intentional plagiarism, we note first the tragic nature in which the Holy Spirit is not allowed to work in and through the preacher. Too often, this consequence is missing entirely from contemporary discussions on the dangers of plagiarism. But how great a tragedy it is! The joy of discovering truth in the study of a biblical passage is altogether lost on the preacher who bypasses the study of a text and parrots the views of another. It is as though the preacher questions God’s ability or desire to work in and through the very man He has called to proclaim His truth.

4) We Bring Shame Upon The Name Of The Lord

This danger is the greatest. Honestly, I don’t know a single preacher who desires to disgrace the name of the Lord and His church. We shudder at the thought of causing anyone to stumble in any way. And yet, this is the greatest danger of plagiarism. When people learn we have copied someone else’s sermon, they are rightly outraged and indignant. After all, if they cannot trust their pastor to be truthful, whom can they trust?

May God help us always to be faithful expositors of the Word of God to the people of God for the glory of God!

 PREVIOUS COMMENTS

1. directorfsm I concur, when writing my Th.M. thesis more than once I caught myself writing something that was nearly quoting something I had read long before. Thankfully in the age of free online plagiarism checkers, this can be easily avoided.
   
2. Comment by post authorTodd Linn, PhD Amen!