April 14, 1999
Preachers: Check story sources
___The mounds of inspirational stories available on the Internet could be both a blessing and a curse to preachers, according to the editor of a journal on preaching.
___Preachers are always on the lookout for stories to illustrate their sermons, noted Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching magazine. And the Internet is full of stories.
___But taking stories off websites or from e-mails forwarded by friends may sometimes bedangerous, Duduit warned.
___"One of the big issues to me is that some of the stories without much credibility ... that in the past have just been picked out of church bulletins and been repeated now have a faster and wider circulation," he said. "The story that's too good to be true can be passed around at the speed of cyberspace, where as in the past it kind of made its way from one church bulletin to another.
___"There is a danger for preachers in just picking up a good story and quoting it as fact simply because they got an e-mail," Duduit said. "It's possible to be embarrassed by passing around information that turns out has no basis in fact."
___Duduit advises preachers always to know the original source of any story they put in a sermon. If a relevant story gets forwarded to a preacher via e-mail, the wise preacher will check back with the sender and find out where they got it from.
___And then a good dose of common sense is in order as well, he said. "I would use my God-given judgment and discernment to say, 'Does this sound reasonable, authentic?' If it's too good to be true, it probably is."
___The rapid and uncharted transmission of stories over the Internet also opens new opportunities for preachers to unwittingly become guilty of plagiarism, Duduit noted.
___A case of just such a problem was spotted recently by Bob Guffey, associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport, La.
___"I received an e-mail with a copy of a prayer attributed to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial service," he said. "I happened to recognize it as a prayer from Marion Wright Edelman's 'Guide My Feet.'"
___While the prayer may have been used at the memorial service, it was written by Edelman and published in a copyrighted book.
___Such a technicality may not cause a preacher to break a law in simply preaching a sermon, Duduit explained. But it could be more significant if the sermon is published or broadcast in any form.
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