SECONDHAND SERMONS

Posted on Nov 17, 2021 in BLOG |

 

“I don’t have the time for sermon preparation with all the other pastoral responsibilities that demand my attention.”

“Other preachers say it better than me, so why not use their messages to reach my people better?”

“The communication experts know how to craft a message that will attract people much better than I do.”

“If we are going to reach more people, we need to be spending more time studying people than we do studying the Bible.”

More and more, I hear of preachers using secondhand sermons. The reasons vary but generally reflect pastoral pragmatism. Pastors are busy with people. People’s needs are more important than preparing sermons, so I need high-impact sermons that take less time. Secondhand sermons are the result of pastoral pragmatism.

 NOT PLAGIARISM

To be clear, I am not talking about plagiarism. Plagiarism is sin because we are stealing sermons from someone else. Plagiarism is deceptive because we are presenting a message as our own without giving credit to the author. However, many preach secondhand sermons while giving credit for the sermon. They are not plagiarizing as long as they give credit for the message.

I am not talking about a copycat style of preaching. Some preachers spend so much time listening to a popular preacher that they start sounding like the preacher. As long as you are not intentionally trying to copy another’s style, you will sometimes sound like the preacher you follow. I am not talking about the use of research services like www.docentgroup.com or illustration databases like www.preachingtoday.com. Once again, give credit to the source to avoid plagiarism.

Some object that they don’t want to make the sermon into a research paper by footnoting everything. I have taken to footnoting in my manuscript because it keeps me honest, and if someone asks, I can refer the person to the source. But you don’ have to say all that in the message. We can alert people to the source by saying, “a popular writer put it this way,” or “Tim Keller wrote,” and then give the quote. We don’t have to give all the bibliographic information in the sermon, but we must credit others when we use their material.

What am I talking about?

 PRE-PACKAGED AND FRANCHISE SERMONS

I am talking about pre-packaged sermons that we download and franchise sermons that we regurgitate. The advertisement header in the inbox says, “Do you want to preach a great Christmas sermon this year?” Opening the promo leads to the sales pitch. A database of the best Christmas sermons developed by experienced communicators is available for only a few dollars. Choose the one that fits your context and draw the crowds to your church. Pre-packaged sermons are sermons for sale. Many online organizations will sell you sermons or even give them to you. It is tempting to think that these experts can help you reach people without all the hard work of preparing a sermon during a busy season. More and more pastors are buying their sermons to ease the time crunch and add the splash punch.

Franchise sermons are often used in multi-site churches to ensure consistent messaging at all locations. One sermon prepared by the lead pastor becomes the framework for each pastor’s sermons to their respective congregations. While there might be some minor adjustments from place to place, the same sermon is preached to everyone. Marketing gurus stress that this keeps the sermon on-brand for all locations. Furthermore, each local pastor does not have to spend time preparing a sermon that the elite communicator can prepare more effectively. Franchise sermons reflect corporate communication in the church.

 ABDICATING OUR CALLING

What is wrong with secondhand sermons? Secondhand sermons are an abdication of our calling. God calls us to be pastoral, authentic, and incarnational in our preaching. Effective preaching is not about the crowds but about our calling. Paul wrote that the leading elders in a local church (pastors) are to be those who “work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17). He commanded Timothy (and us) to pay attention to – to devote ourselves to – the reading, exhortation, and teaching of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13). Our primary calling centers around the word (2 Tim. 4:2). We are to be word-centered pastors who feed our people God’s words.

Preaching is not about eloquence but about authenticity. When we preach someone else’s sermons, we fail to be authentic. We are parroting what another has said. The words of another come between us and our audience. John Piper wrote it seems “utterly unthinkable to me that authentic preaching would be the echo of another person’s encounter with God’s word rather than a trumpet blast of my own encounter with God’s word.”

Preaching is not about communication skills but about incarnating the word for our people. The best preaching is always incarnational. By immersing ourselves in the Bible, we flesh out for our people what we are learning. By wrestling with the text, we come to breathe the lessons we live. Effective preachers are conduits of God’s word to God’s people. What comes out of our mouths comes through our lives. Secondhand sermons are not incarnational. Only immersion in God’s word can lead to incarnational preaching.

Paul told Timothy to “pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16). Our lives and our preaching are intertwined. Our people don’t need secondhand sermons. They need to hear a message that they can see and know comes through us to them.

Brothers,

Be yourself.

Love your people.

Devote yourself to the Word.