When You Should Know It’s Plagiarism

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In Season 3 of The Office, titled “A Benihana Christmas,” Michael Scott gives his new girlfriend, Carol Stills (played by Steve Carell’s real wife), a Christmas card where he had photoshopped himself into her family ski trip, replacing her ex-husband. He presents it as a “Ski-sons’ Greetings” card, and claimed they had a blast.

Carol, of course, points out that they never went skiing together and adds, “This is so weird.”

It ended their relationship.

In a cutaway, Jim Halpert speaks into the camera: “It’s a bold move to Photoshop yourself into a picture with your girlfriend and her kids on a ski trip with their real father. But then Michael’s a bold guy. Is bold the right word?”

No, it’s not.

It would be like someone taking a story I told in a sermon about something that happened between my wife and me and then retelling it in one of their sermons as if it had happened to them and their wife.

We know the right word for that. It’s plagiarism. Which is stealing. And in this case, it’s also lying.

When pastoral plagiarism and the stealing and lying inherent recently became a topic of conversation due to a New York Times article on the matter that created a bit of a stir within Christian circles, I thought it would clean things up pretty fast. People were being exposed and then disciplined, sometimes even fired.

But no. The stories continue to unfold, over and over again, the most recent concerning the pastor of a large church in Virginia.

The instant access to any number of high-profile speakers seems too much of a temptation for some. But rather than attempt to resist or repent, an increasing number have simply redefined as in redefined what it means to be guilty of true plagiarism.

Now, all you need is the permission of the person you are borrowing from. Get that, even for just a single talk or idea, and you don’t need to give them attribution when you deliver it as if it were your own. Even better, once you make that ask, you tell yourself that you can then do it over and over again due to the one ask for the one talk.

Wait—it gets worse.

Once you borrow the story from the person, you tell yourself you can even become the person. You can swap yourself into their personal stories as if they actually happened to you, and tell them that way, like Michael photoshopped his face into the family picture.

Even if you don’t get their permission for one or more talks, which few do, you can just fall back and spiritualize it by saying, “It’s all for the Kingdom” or “It’s not really theirs, because God gave it to them.” That, of course, is true. Of everything. Including our property. That, too, is meant to be for the Kingdom and has been given to us, yet God still gave the commandment, “Don’t steal.” That includes the property we create. It’s why we have the legal term “intellectual property.”

Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with gaining inspiration from another person’s talks or borrowing ideas for a series from other speakers. There is nothing wrong with being informed by another person’s research. There’s nothing wrong with telling a story you heard someone else tell, using their outline, or repeating a memorable phrase.

Here’s what is wrong and should be avoided at all costs:

Using another person’s creative outline without attribution.

Using another person’s unique insights without attribution.

Using another person’s stories without attribution, much less telling it as if it happened to you.

Using a quote from someone else, or a well-worn phrase, and say, “Or as I like to put it…” as if you came up with it on your own.

This is serious. Let’s call what doing one or more of these actually is: sin. As in the sin of stealing, the sin of lying, and the sin of pride.

There is little excuse for plagiarism. These offenses should be easy enough for anyone to avoid. It’s not difficult to give attribution in a flowing, natural way. You might start a talk or series by saying, “My thinking has been informed on this by...” or “I’m indebted throughout today’s talk to…”, and you are off and on your way with a clear conscience—and clear attribution.

Along the way, make ample use of introductory lines such as, “Philip Yancey tells the story of…”, “Chuck Swindoll writes about this in a funny way…”, “John Stott talked about this in terms of…”, or “C.S. Lewis once observed that….”

Good communicators borrow material all the time. They are constantly listening to other speakers for inspiration.

That’s good.

But when they Photoshop themselves into the picture,

... that’s not bold.

That’s not even just weird.

That’s just plain wrong.

James Emery White 

Sources

Ruth Graham, “‘Sermongate’ Prompts a Quandary: Should Pastors Borrow Words From One Another?” The New York Times, June 22, 2023, read online.

“A Richmond Pastor Is Building His Megachurch Preaching His Mentor’s Sermons,” Richmond-Times Dispatch, read online.

Mark A. Kellner, “ARC Megachurch Pastor Accused of Sermon-Stealing, Newspaper Says,” The Roys Report, December 28, 2025, read online.

Related Article

The Sin and Crime of Plagiarism in Christian Publishing

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SeventyFour

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.