Groeschel screams: "Stop Plagiarizing!"

July 21st, 2008

by Craig Groeschel

80 comments (+ Add)

Plagiarizing Pastors

Some have said, “If a pastor copies from one source, it’s plagiarizing. If he copies from multiple sources, he’s researching.”

This week I’d like us to talk about using other people’s material with integrity.

Giving Credit
On LifeChurch.tv Open, we don’t require attribution for resources that people download and use. We don’t need credit nor desire it. We simply want to make anything we create freely available for other pastors and churches to use in ministry.
Sadly, we know of a couple of pastors who have been fired, in part, for “plagiarizing” our work and others whose integrity has been questioned.
Here are my thoughts:

• It isn’t plagiarizing if you’re given permission.
• Just because it isn’t plagiarizing doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t give credit to others.

Years ago I used material—with permission—from a friend. He had asked me not to credit him, so I didn’t. A few people took a strong stance against me for plagiarizing. Although he didn’t desire to be mentioned, we all would have been better off if I had given credit for the material I used.
Giving credit does several valuable things:

• It honors the pastor or church who came up with the idea.
• It demonstrates humility and security.
• It exposes a church to other great leaders and teachers.
• It removes any doubt of copying.

This week, we’ll discuss when and how to give credit.
What are your initial thoughts?