The most effective leaders I know are those that have strong boundaries around their personal life. Today, I want to talk about plagiarism among leaders. I’ve been involved in ministry for over 10 years and it’s amazing to me of how many pastors plagiarize when they write and develop their sermons.

It is said, “If a pastor copies from one source, it’s plagiarizing. If he copies from multiple sources, he’s researching.” How pathetic.

Now, I’m not against researching if it’s used with integrity. Since equipping leaders with resources is a big part of what I do, I consider myself a content distributor. Which means I have a passion to expose young leaders to other pastors, churches, business tools and resources in the Body of Christ globally. But, when I do this, credit is always given.  I believe it is important that we give credit where credit is due.

Giving credit to a leader does several things:

1. It gives honor to the leader or organization who came up with the idea
2. It shows humility and security
3. It exposes your audience to other leaders, thinkers, pastors and churches.
4. It removes any doubt of copying

The most dangerous thing about plagiarizing, especially in ministry is that it proves that you have not been spending enough time in God’s Word or in His presence. It also proves that you have stopped learning. If you are a leader and you have stopped spending time in God’s Word and have stopped learning, then you have stopped growing.

Your Thoughts?