Greg England wrote about a cute story he heard a preacher tell, a story about when the preacher was young. Problem was, I’d heard that story numerous times. And it was all over the Internet. When I pointed that out to Greg, he didn’t find the story quite as cute. No one likes to be deceived.
When I was in college, one of our local preachers liked to do that. He told stories about his college days, dazzling us with the quick wit and the daring way he spoke to his professors. None of it was true, of course. Maybe he assumed we knew those were old Bill Cosby jokes he was telling. I for one felt like he had lied to me.
Obviously, stealing someone else’s sermon is worse. Also while in college, I heard the preacher at my parents’ home church preach a sermon that was one of the best I’d heard from him. I liked it less when I found it in a Chuck Swindoll book, word for word.
To those who speak in public: nobody thinks the less of you if you admit that you are using something you’ve read from someone else. A verbal “footnote” takes a few seconds and means a lot. That story will be just as effective even if you tell it as having happened to someone else. You don’t have to put yourself into the joke to make it funny. Speak as one who tells the truth. Make it clear to everyone that what you say happened just as you said it did.
I can’t always remember from where I’ve gotten an idea. If nothing else, you can say, “I read once…” or “As someone said…” If the thought isn’t yours and you know it, admit that. And if you want to use someone else’s lesson once in a while, that’s okay. Just admit it.
Or am I the only that thinks preacher plagiarism is wrong?