Original sin?

So, there was an interesting conversation on some blogs recently about the ethics of writing sermons. The bulk of the debate seemed to revolve around whether or not it is appropriate to borrow/use/steal/buy material from other pastors/preachers/teachers/leaders. Specifically, is a website like http://www.pastors.com a good idea or a bad idea? Do pastors need to develop all their sermons completely from scratch? Or is it ok to buy material pre-packaged?

The issue came up when I read the following blog:
"Pastoral Plagiarism" (thanks to Justin Taylor for the link)

Before reading any more of this blog entry, go read the one on "pastoral plagiarism" (and the article that sparked the debate) and let me know what you think.

I am not a pastor, nor am I a pastor-in-training. So, I am not under the weekly pressure to produce a sermon, nor will I ever be. So, from that point of view I don't think I'm in a good position to comment either way. Clearly there are a lot of bloggers who feel very strongly that using pre-packaged sermon material is absolutely wrong. But conversely there are many pastors and churches who appreciate this service.

I think that clearly anyone who steals sermon material and then passes it off as their own is in the wrong. No question there. But, is there a real sin committed by buying a sermon outline, fleshing it out yourself, and then preaching it on Sunday? What if you've had a rough week and haven't had time to fully prepare? What if your family is in the middle of a crisis and you can't spend 20 hours doing sermon preparation?

Although I agree that it would be preferable for all pastors to work out their own sermons under the inspiration of God, I think I understand that this won't be possible in all situations. And although I don't like the idea of pastors buying their sermons online, I'm hesitant to broadly condemn anyone and everyone who does this.

As for the "effectiveness" issue - sure, it sounds shallow on many levels. But at the same time, if you come up with a good illustration, or rhetorical technique, or historical fact, or exegetical insight, why not share that with someone else? Why not use whatever resources are available to you? If Rick Warren preaches an awesome sermon, about some issue I was hoping to address to my (hypothetical) congregation, then would it not make some sense to buy that sermon and pass it on to my church?

Those who are most angered by resources such as pastors.com seem to ignore the fact that pastors and teachers use all sorts of ancilliary material in preparing their sermons; countless commentaries, grammars, encyclopedias, dictionaries, academic articles, footnotes, translation notes, conversations with other people, devotional material, Christian books, systematic theologies, TV shows, movies, radio programs, Christian music etc. etc. There is no such thing as a perfectly divinely-inspired, unadulterated, straight-from-God-to-me sermon.

Rather than there being a clear dividing line between these kinds of secondary resources and those at pastors.com, it seems to me, in my naivete, that we are looking at something that more closely resembles a sliding scale of available helps. Different pastors are going to be all over the map according to the needs of their congregation and the resources available to them. Some will go the easy way and buy a package deal. Others will slog it out by themselves and try to create something original and unique to them and their church.

Ultimately I think that is is within God's ability to work in the hearts and minds of everyone involved, regardless of the where the sermon originally came from. At least, that's my take on this issue. As I say, I'm not a pastor, and it' clear that folks seem to be coming down strongly on either side of this debate.

Continuous Partial Attention

There's a fascinating article over on MSNBC about something called Continuous Partial Attention." Basically this describes the way that modern communication devices such as Blackberries, cell-phones, laptops, wi-fi access everywhere etc. keep us from ever giving our full attention to one particular task. Instead we constantly flit back and forth from one thing to the next, always waiting for the next input from our ever-present, always-on digital assistants.

Levy says:

But there's a problem in the workplace when the interruptions intrude on tasks that require real concentration or quiet reflection. And there's an even bigger problem when our bubble of connectedness stretches to ensnare us no matter where we are. A live BlackBerry or even a switched-on mobile phone is an admission that your commitment to your current activity is as fickle as Renée Zellweger's wedding vows. Your world turns into a never-ending cocktail party where you're always looking over your virtual shoulder for a better conversation partner. The anxiety is contagious: anyone who winds up talking to a person infected with CPA [continuous partial attention] feels like he or she is accepting an Oscar, and at any moment the music might stop the speech.

I think we can all relate to the image of talking to someone and feeling like at any moment they are going to cut you off in favor of something better, more interesting, more pressing, or more alluring. It's amazingly annoying. And, truth be told, I am as guilty of this crime as the next person.

Of course, the temptation is to say, "well, big deal, so I spend a lot of time talking on my cell-phone." But, in light of recent blog posts and comments about quiet time/devotionals/prayer, I am concerned about how this intrusion of technology really damages both our relationship with God and with other people. It's impossible to ever connect deeply with another person if part of you (or me) is constantly keeping one ear/eye/chat channel open for some other more important/more urgent need.

We have stopped watching the main program and are instead obsessed with the constantly moving news ticker racing across the bottom of the screen.

Quiet Times

So, thanks for everyone's comments about quiet time. That was an interesting thread and I appreciate the different thoughts about the problem. It's nice to know I am not crazy.

What I found has been working is to get up at 6 (which is not an extra-pious time of day - it just happens to be the time I need to get up in order to get to school on time). Then I read a short devotional from this book:



Every Day with Jesus: The Spirit-Filled Life, by Selwyn Hughes

Followed by a devotional from:


By Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, by Martin Luther
(obviously Luther didn't write the devotional, but the devotionals are excerpts from his writing, with no extraneous commentary)

Then, I try to read 4 chapters from the Bible, following the Murray M'Cheyne reading plan. You can read about that plan here:

http://www.edginet.org/mcheyne/info.html

There's nothing special about this plan - it just happens to be one suggested by a professor, and so far I like it.

Of course, all of the above is subject to change according to what the morning throws at me. And, technically speaking, if I was trying to be anal about it, I am already "behind". But, the main thing I took from our discussion is that this quiet time is something intended for my benefit in developing a closer relationship with God and not a duty that I owe God. Anyway, less guilt and obsession about the whole venture has been immensely helpful and I can honestly say that I am enjoying this quiet time more than ever before, and I no longer beat myself up if I have to skip a day for some reason.

Been sick

A lingering old has had me down and out. Hence the long absence from this blog.

Online accountability?

So, talking about routines, I need some help staying regular. No, I'm not talking about All-Bran, I'm talking about spiritual discipline here. It's amazing to me that I can, evidently, be so stuck in and controlled by certain routines and habits in my life (see post below), and yet for other things I find it almost impossible to set up a regular habit.

So, that said, I am trying to commit to a regular "quiet time" every morning before I leave for school. I have tried this many, many times before, but never been able to sustain it for more than a few weeks. Usually it goes well for a week and then I get sick, or oversleep, or need to cram for a test, or whatever, and then suddenly I am behind in my reading, and then something else comes up, and before I know it, it's been months and months...

I know, I am in seminary! This should be a given, right? Well, what can I say? I am not perfect. And I am trying to fix this. And, it's not like I just sit around and watch TV all day. And, I wonder who else here at school is working so hard on their classes that they don't have much time for regular reflection and reading that isn't assigned? Who knows.

Anyways, the point is that I know I need to start doing this. So, it worked this morning. And, probably it'll work tomorrow, but after that...

So, if you can think of a way to help me stay on track, or a way to stay accountable, that would be awesome. Someone once said that you need 40 days of doing something to make it a habit. I feel ridiculous saying this, but honestly doing something every day for 40 days seems pretty much impossible right now.

Hmmm... My inner geek dreams of some sort of javscript I can insert into the blog to track this? Maybe there is a comment form I can install in the sidebar for general blog comments not tied to a specific post.

Anyways, back to Millard-Erickson now...

Why vacations should be banned…

We are, generally speaking, creatures of habit. Or at least, so "they" say. I have no idea who coined that phrase originally, and personally, I have always rebelled against it. "Creature of habit" sounds to me like a great description of a cow or a chicken, but not me. Habits are boring, confining, stifling, routine.

And I don’t want routines.

I try to avoid getting stuck in a rut, doing the same thing day in, day out. Over and over. That’s for hamsters in habitrails.

And yet…

For some reason vacations throw me off completely. Maybe it’s a sign of getting older. Maybe this never used to be the case, I don’t remember. (Another disturbing reminder of my ever-increasing age).

All I know is that my wife’s parents, in an act of amazing generosity, took us to Mexico with them over Spring Break. It was amazing. We stayed on the stunning island of Cozumel, which is near Belize, on the Caribbean coast. Beautiful sun, beautiful sea, delicious food. I think I wore my swimsuit all day long and the coldest it got, even at night, was about 70 degrees. What a place.

But it took me at least 4 days to actually settle down and relax once we got there. I am apparently so used to my little routine-that-is-not-a-routine that going away threw me off completely and it was really hard to adapt. I was so tense and wound-up I didn’t know what to do. Where were my books? My classes? My Greek vocab cards? My daily quizzes? My long commute? My computer? I was flapping around like a fearful flailing flounder on the floor of a foreign French fishing boat.

But, eventually I did adapt…and settled down...and relaxed...and tuned out...just in time to come home and be thrown out of whack all over again. And now I have to suddenly get back into my old routine-that-is-not-a -routine again and my brain is just not functioning. Reading takes longer. Analytical skills are gone. Drive and motivation are way down. Focus has evaporated. What on earth is going on?

No stress.

Stress - my dear friend, my best buddy, the one who sustains me at 2 in the morning as I struggle to pull together random thoughts and quotes into meaningful prose has left me and I don’t know where he is.

If you have any suggestions for where I can find him, please let me know.

In the meantime, I propose that we do away with vacations – they obviously do more harm than good.

This is not a blog

That is, if you define a blog as something that is updated regularly...

What can I say? We were out of town, and then busy trying to get home and classes started and, and, and....

Excuses to one side, more stuff is coming soon. In the meantime, if you drink coffee, then check this out:

Muslim, Jewish and Chrstian coffee farmers are coming together in Uganda to form a fair trade cooperative

Pretty interesting story!

Now, go buy some of their coffee:

https://www.securesitehosts.com/thanksgivingcoffee/mk/

Viva Mexico

I shall be away from my computer for the next week.

Hasta luego!