Ed Litton, the plagiarism problem, and three ways you can help your Pastor be the preacher God called him to be

Immediately following the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2021, incoming president Ed Litton and outgoing president JD Greear found themselves at the center of an uncomfortable conversation that was quickly fanned into a full-blown social media firestorm.

The controversy centers on a YouTube video that was edited to toggle between a 2019 sermon by Greear and a sermon Litton preached in January, 2020, both on Romans 1. Anyone watching the video would be astonished by the similarities between the two. No question, Litton had accessed Greear’s sermon, drew heavily from it, and copied a staggering amount of the content verbatim.

Both men have offered concise explanations from their respective viewpoints (see Greear’s here and Litton’s here). But any way you shave it, Litton’s sermon reflects plagiarism, and evidently is part of a pattern. Litton’s church has removed more than 100 sermons from their site.

A bigger problem for all of us

But the bigger problem for all of us, those who sit in the seats and those who stand in the pulpit on Sunday, is that the Litton/Greear video just fuels the growing cultural mistrust of pastors, a mistrust which is increasingly adopted by young Christians. It’s not just a Southern Baptist thing. It goes to the heart of the trust we place in those who teach us and lead us (Heb. 13:7).

As soon as the video was shared online, people already skeptical of pastors added it to their arsenal. For example, an anonymous Twitter user who characterizes himself as a non-conformist Christian, voiced his contempt for pastors, “I pretty much know that every large-church pastor around steals sermons from somewhere, mostly because when I talk with them they’re USELESS exegetically. There’s no way any of them could pull together anything outside of a 5 minute devotional.”

Well. That stings.

Trust matters

The fact is, each time your Pastor stands in the pulpit, you offer to him your trust, and you have a realistic expectation that what is taught and preached from that sacred place will be accurate, biblical, relevant, and trustworthy. And you rightly listen with the expectation that the words he preaches will have germinated and been cultivated within the depths of that preacher’s restless soul, tilled by the hand of the Holy Spirit, churned until he cannot be quiet but must bring that Word from the One who called Him to that task, that day, at that time (1 Cor. 9:16, 2 Tim. 4:2).

And you anticipate that moment because God called that preacher—his personality, his style, and his voice–to bring God’s Word to you. The way he crafts the message, the illustrations he chooses, and the points he makes will certainly be informed by his resources but should absolutely be infused with his personality and his creative choices and not pillaged from the work of someone else and then passed off as his own (James 3:1).

So let’s regroup. In an age when church controversies and preachers’ mistakes are proliferating online and being leveraged to undermine pastoral ministry, how can you foster trust, rather than suspicion, between you, your church, and your Pastor? Here are three ways you can help your Pastor be the preacher God called him to be:

• Give him space, resources, and time to prepare (1 Cor. 9:14, 1 Tim. 5:17).

When done properly, sermon preparation is a laborious creative process. It’s not for the faint of heart or the lazy soul. In thirty years of doing it, the most common question I am asked is, “How long does it take you to prepare a sermon?” And the only accurate answer is, “enough.” Enough time to study the text, consult the resources, outline the message, produce the content, and then prepare it to preach.

Enough time to do it right.

Pray for your Pastor. Pray that God would give him what you and your church need to hear. And then give him space to get it ready.

Okay—I am sure that there are those who can get with God and produce a quality message while playing 18 holes. But for the sake of argument, let’s say they are the exception.

So if you expect your Pastor to preach a fresh Word each week, and to do it out of the depths of his time with God, help him do it. Occasionally he will be interrupted by emergencies or urgent priorities. That’s a given. But frequently he will be interrupted by people who cannot grasp the magnitude of the task before him. So if you get it, and if you know he is studying, do your best to give him that uninterrupted time.

And, by the way, find out if he has the resources he needs. Does your church provide a book allowance? Breaks to study or for continuing education?

Do this, and on Sunday morning, you will both be better for it.

• Give him your respect (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

We live in a celebrity-driven culture, and Christians easily fall prey to a Comparison Syndrome. With access available to so many preachers and teachers who are excellent communicators (and so many who are not), we can’t help ourselves.

Every preacher I know labors under the shadow of those other preachers—the celebrities. They write the books, lead the megachurches, host the podcasts, and circulate the blogs that foster an unrealistic standard for every faithful local church shepherd who is, in fact, the biblical model for pastoral ministry.

And, by the way, when you are constantly comparing him to someone out there somewhere, you are feeding the temptation for him to try to mimic someone else, or to try to impress people rather than please God (2 Cor. 5:9).   

Never forget that God did not call super-so-and-so to your church. He called your Pastor. And He did that because that’s who you need to listen to. And that’s the Shepherd that will be with you when your health declines, or your finances crash, or your kids rebel, or your marriage falls apart.

Because he loves you, and that’s what God called him to do (Eph. 4:11).

• Give him the benefit of the doubt (Heb. 13:17).

But if he slips up, if he misspeaks, or he fails to meet your expectations or match the glowing, angelic image you have of pastors, give him the benefit of the doubt.

I am not saying let sin slide. But assume the best until and unless you have a reason to presume the worst. In the absence of a biblical reason to do otherwise, always support his authority to preach, lead, and teach (1 Tim. 5:17). And if you have a question, ask him. If you have a concern, or you are confused about what he is doing, or why he is doing it, go to him first.

Because just as you have the right to have expectations of his honesty and integrity and commitment to preach God’s Word, he has the right to expect one thing of you.

That is, that you will trust your Pastor.

I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.

Jeremiah 3:15