Divine Comedy
January 1, 1996
A number of ethical difficulties keep rearing their ugly little heads in preaching. For example, when is it appropriate to cite a reference, and when should you try to pass off material as your own?
I am ruthless about the need for honesty here. I have always said, "Integrity is who you are when nobody's looking." "Grow strong in the seasons of life," is the way I put it. Plagiarism will not restore your spiritual passion, nor will it order your private world. I always remind people, "Friday's here, but Sunday's a-comin'."
Another delicate issue in this day of heightened authenticity is, How do you disguise the identity of people you use for illustrations?
Say, for instance, you have a terrific conversation about eschatology with your wife late one night when you're both in bed. But you've been mentioning your wife too often in messages lately, so you decide to disguise her identity and say this is a conversation you had with a cranky old neighbor who lives across the street.
However, if you say, "I had a terrific conversation with a cranky old neighbor about eschatology late one night last week when we were both in bed," some people could be distracted by the last part of your sentence and miss the point altogether.
You nip that problem in the bud by saying something like this: "I had a terrific conversation with a cranky old neighbor about eschatology late one night last week—but we weren't in bed, that's for sure!" This will set everyone's mind at ease.
Then, there's the preacher's dilemma: What to do when someone comes up and says, "Pastor, I'm just not being fed"?
A while back this whole "Feed-Me" syndrome got so pervasive I decided to deal with it head on. "You people have a spiritual eating disorder," I told the congregation. ...
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