pastor as plagiarist
Via Dark Christianity:
Steve Sjogren at pastors.com writes: Don’t be original, be effective!
I would like to submit this article as evidence of one reason people like me, who pride themselves on critical thought, are driven away from Christianity.
Sjogren addresses the question of how much material not his own (I’d say his/her own here, normally, but in this context I’m pretty confident Sjogren doesn’t have women in mind) a pastor can incorporate into a sermon. Sjogren’s conclusion is that you can plagiarize all you want, because we’re talking about the good of the Kingdom.
His conclusion doesn’t surprise me, because if your goal is to reel in as many fish as possible, why would you be worried about matters of intellectual property rights? These pastors are fighting a war, and that war is fought from the pulpit. In times of war you do whatever it takes to win. If that means preaching, word-for-word a vintage Billy Graham sermon every single week, as Dr. Cho, pastor of Yoido Church in Korea (incidentally the largest church in the world) does, so be it.
Evangelical Christianity is not interested in exploration or interrogation of big ideas. That is what all religions attempt to address — the big ideas, the ideas that are beyond our grasp, but we try to understand them anyway, because we’re human. The questions of existence, good, evil, life, and death. Evangelical is interested in staying on message, in making the sale. Evangelical Christianity sells a product, and when you’re selling a product, you find the best way to sell it and you don’t fix what ain’t broke. Why would Dr. Cho risk a drop in his sales if he can guarantee increasing returns with a tried-and-true pitch?
When evangelical Christianity is selling a product, this approach makes perfect sense. Heaven forbid that a pastor actually exegete or illuminate scripture in a new way.
Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas and claiming them as your own. That’s the academic definition, anyway, and by that definition, pastors like Rick Warren who listen to “two or three sermon tapes a day” and incorporate whatever ideas they like into their sermons are plagiarists.
The thing is, for many, a good sermon should include ideas and words from other sources. Those include the Bible, commentary texts and other books, and for the really hip and with-it pastors, cultural references. And most pastors with academic backgrounds will duly credit their sources.
But if there are indeed, as Sjogren says, many who don’t — well, that doesn’t inspire much confidence from the rest of the world, does it? The rest of us who have been taught that plagiarism, claiming someone else’s ideas as your own, is wrong. You don’t have to have a university or journalism-school background to have internalized those values; you (should have) learned that in junior high or high school, at least.
When it comes to Sjogren’s claim that originality is a form of pride, I wonder. All these pastors who forsake originality, and therefore pride, by preaching sermons they did not write — when their audience members come up to them after the service, shake their hands and say, “Excellent message, Pastor!,” do they divulge the origin of the sermon (Billy Graham, 1974; Bill Hybels, 1993)?
In the end, Sjogren’s stance on this issue reinforces the perceptions of folks like me, who believe that most Christians and churches have no interest in thoughtfully investigating their beliefs, their scriptures, their logic, their philosophy, their religion. Not, at least, when there’s a sale to be made.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Not, at least, when there’s a sale to be made.
Ding-ding-ding!!!
We have a winner.
Excellent post.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 am
The only thing that sucks is I think we might have inadvertently agreed with Ingrid over at Slice of Laodicea….
http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/archives/2006/04/a_purpose_drive_1.php
I hate when this happens. It’s a fine line we walk.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 am
Actually, I think I kinda like it when this happens. It has to do with all of us being on the margins. Opposite margins, but margins still, and that gives us something in common.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:21 pm
You know what cheezes me? My (former) pastor did this all the time: he would argue with the assistant pastor about some theological point (that the assistant pastor knew more about) but by Sunday morning, he was incorporating not only the idea, but the same phraseology into his sermon (without credit). He did this to me a few times, too, once the assistant pastor left (to get his doctorate from Oxford, no less). I noticed he would argue some point of doctrine with me, or even just some “cool lingo” I had used in an e-mail to the worship team, and lo and behold, there it would appear in his sermon (and coming from the mouth of Christ, no less!)! It really grated on my nerves, b/c it was obvious to *me* what he was doing, but I think he truly thought somehow, that idea or phrase had come into his head without any outside influence. And of course, no one else knew what was happening. What’s really frustrating is that he never *got* the various arguments we would make concerning some theological point, but he would appropriate the language into his sermon and put his own spin on it–thus, teaching the congregation that some specific phrase had an entirely different meaning than it does for the academic theological sphere.
Reminds me of a kid I knew in 6th grade, who sat next to me and would repeat some cut-up remark I had made under my breath out loud to the whole class (he wasn’t afraid of getting in trouble like I was). And he would get all the laughs and all the credit. It bugged me, but I had a crush on him at the time, so I let him get away with it.
Thanks for letting me vent!
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Wow, that’s really frustrating, NN. I guess if he didn’t even get things right it’s a good thing he didn’t credit you, though.
But really — should we be caring about “credit” when we could be caring about BRINGING PEOPLE TO CHRIST? Though I think your story illustrates that uncited sources can be used to pump up a pastor’s ego just as much as anything. I’m sure everyone in the congregation thought he was totally hip and with it.
It’s funny, because in school I was the kid who would say the snarky things the shy kid whispered.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:18 am
It’s funny, because in school I was the kid who would say the snarky things the shy kid whispered.
YOU!
That’s it, we can’t be friends. [/joking]
May 26th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
Steve and Josh,
Dearest Jenny,
Someone has directed you down quite the wrong path. But don’t despair — I’ve arrived to help in the Nick of time.
Being “effective” is for more important than being creative, challenging or authentic. My dear, you simply have missed the point of religion.
Your perspective is obviously driven by a lack of vision for what The Church can become and how you might profit, as a result. My dear, there are myriad opportunities that women so astute (and I suspect fabulous) as you allow pass you by. Pay me a vist, and we might be able to remedy all that.
Your friend until The End,
PrinceB
May 26th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Dear Prince B,
Are you hitting on me?
Sincerely,
Jenny
May 27th, 2006 at 11:50 am
In a manner of speaking . . .
May 27th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Figures. My first blog-admirer is an effin’ demon.
June 2nd, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Nah, I think you’re aiight.
June 22nd, 2006 at 11:27 am
I read your article and found it interesting. I preach and have used many ideas from other preachers…including Rick Warren as well as starting my sermons from scratch. King Solomon said tehre is nothing new under the sun. That includes ideas and sermons. I don’t have an agenda… I’m after what my creator wants from me. I guess I feel that sometimes… I find that others have said it better than I have or can. I’m always learning how to say things better…and they have helped me. I’m not interested in being a carbon copy of these guys… I do want to help people connect with God and perhaps find something from the Bible that helps them. That’s what the Bible is for… to help me live my life the way God created me to live. I used to be a very skeptical person when it came to the Bible. But as I set aside my prejudices and tried to be objective…I dug through history… reading skeptics as well as faith based authors…they helped me reach a conclusion. That there is a God and I can benefit from the Bible. I don’t need some stupid, obnoxious ‘faith based’ shirt to express my faith… I don’t need a shirt…I need to serve. By the way, I didn’t get that idea from Rick Warren. I got that from Jesus. Thanks for the challenge to be original as I can. I’ll try to do that.