Southern Baptist Convention [SBC] president Ed Litton recently came under fire at the end of June 2021 after a series of videos were released accusing him of plagiarizing other pastors’ sermons.
One particular video focused on a Romans sermon series given by former SBC president J.D. Greear. The video showed clips of Greear preaching his sermon series in 2019, then Litton preaching his sermon series in 2020. As the clips alternate back and forth, the similarity of Litton’s words, phrases, illustrations, and outlines to Greear’s are evident.
Litton ‘Clears The Air’
Pastors Jared Cornutt, J. Allen Murray, and Matt Henslee had Litton on their “The Potluck Podcast” this past Monday to discuss some of the controversy surrounding him the past couple of months.
Litton was asked to share his heart regarding the leaders within the SBC who are calling for his resignation, not only as the 63rd president of the SBC but also as the senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama.
In an attempt to “clear the air,” Litton said he understands why people have concerns and alluded to what has been publicized as contributing to those feelings.
“Most of it centers around a Romans series that we did last year,” Litton explained. “When we were outlining the series, as a responsible part of pastoring a preaching is if you’re going to preach through something, you want to outline what you’re going to cover for each week.” The senior pastor shared that during the process of doing so, he remembered that Greear had preached on Romans. Litton called Greear and asked if he could see how Greear had outlined the series. “In that process [my friend Greear] not only gave me permission to [view his outline], he said that if any material at all [can be used], you’re welcome to it.”
Saying he was grateful that Greear had offered all his Romans’ sermon material for use, Litton said, “I had no intention doing anything with it except I enjoy listening to him and I enjoy how he handles certain things in teaching.”
“Like any pastor, I used his material to help me outline it, and then I resourced his material after I had done the Greek work, after I read my commentaries [trying] to get a sense of how this passage needs to be explained to my people,” Litton said. “There’s a couple places in particular were we share the same outline and there’s a couple places in particular where I used a lot of phrases that [Greear] did…I think the older you get the more set you get in language and you tend to rely on what you’ve used in the past. I’ve always been the guy who wants to always figure out, Am I really connecting with people?”
“We’re moving on. We feel like we’re dealing with it and we’re moving forward.”
SBC’s president explained his reasoning for using Greear’s material the way he did. “I didn’t do this…what I did, what it appears that I did…I don’t think is exactly what I did, but the point is, when I did it, I wasn’t trying to make a name for myself. I was trying to help my people understand Scripture.”
Litton said the book of Romans intimidates him as a preacher, it may not be as intimidating for others “smarter than him.” “I had permission, which I think means it’s not plagiarism. The problem is, I did not tell my people exactly the source that it came from.” Litton gave the example of not citing the commentaries as to why he doesn’t see using Greear’s material as plagiarism.
“I have apologized to my people [and] they have very warmly accepted that,” Litton shared. The pastor revealed how he’s met with Redemption Church’s leadership for purpose of correcting the plagiarism allegations. Litton said he has taken steps in his preaching preparation to fast from things he’s done in the past, “I take this very seriously,” he said.
Litton said the he believes that the Lord has forgiven him, and knows that what has happened will grow him into a better communicator.
Hurtful Language Being Direct Toward Litton
“[The SBC] has some real serious problems that we have to work through,” Litton answered after being asked how people can pray for him. SBC’s president said, “There’s a lot of language being used that’s very painful.” Litton reference being called a “liberal” telling the hosts he has never been called that before. “I’ve been a part of the conservative resurgence” and has never considered himself to be a liberal.
After being elected as the SBC president Litton has been called a lot of names. He said his savior tells him to “forgive,” “love,” and “pray” for those who say things about him that aren’t true.
“It’s painful. It’s painful when my family is attacked. It’s painful when people say things that are not true.”
Litton has been asked by pastors if he is pro-homosexual because of the statement used in the Romans’ sermon series, which mirrors Greear’s comment: “In the Bible, sexual sin is whispered, compared to the shout God makes about greed and judgmentalism.”
“No,” Litton said, stating he’s not pro-homosexual. “The statement I made comes in the context of I have preached hard on particular sins throughout my ministry…and my people are used to that…[people] were justifying their sin as less impactful than somebody else’s sin.” Litton went on to say that R.C. Sproul originally made such a statement, which Litton then borrowed from Greear’s preaching. Greear was apparently referring to Sproul’s original statement. “ ‘When it comes to the issue of homosexuality, maybe I should whisper about that and shout about the lust in our hearts (our heterosexual sins) and our proclivity to throw marriages away’ — that’s the context of what I said,” Litton said, paraphrasing.
Litton was adamant his theology hasn’t changed. Then he asked for prayers that he’d live unoffended.
Listen to the entire podcast below: