What Is "Sermongate" All About?
Regardless of your views on the plagiarism scandal surrounding newly minted SBC President, Ed Litton, here is a good article from the New York Times that provides a fairly neutral perspective in describing the issue.
TL;DR - preaching another pastor's sermon is not new. It is a grey area where there are differing opinions. While not condemned, it certainly diminishes a pastor's credibility when discovered.
This quote by Scot McKnight probably best describes the sense of betrayal church members feel when they discover their pastor is not preaching his own material:
For many churchgoers, a sermon is not just a clever speech but proof of the pastor’s deep spiritual life. “A sermon is a person studying the Bible, encountering God in their own life and history, and then spewing it all out on Sunday morning for the good of the people of God.”
The article also points to the possible root of the issue with the various pastors involved: they all employed a company called Docent Research Group.
On their website, Docent describes their services:
We do everything from demographic research to help plan for a new campus launch or church plant to sermon series preparation and planning. We help churches craft position papers to articulate beliefs, and we write custom curriculum for small groups, Bible studies, and Christian education programs. If you need it, we can do it!
J.D. Greear was an endorser of Docent Group until the scandal broke, and his endorsement has been removed.
Still, all of the players involved in the plagiarism scandal are on public record as clients of Docent including Tim Keller, J.D. Greear, Matt Chandler, and Ed Litton.
Perhaps its not so much an issue of plagiarism as it is all of the pastors mentioned are drinking from the same well, which unfortunately is The Docent Group, not the Bible.
This scandal has also exposed perhaps some previously unknown schisms within SBC leadership. Danny Akin and Adam Greenway have both tweeted in support of Ed Litton, basically saying, "nothing to see here, move along," while Jason Allen tweeted a statement condemning plagiarism without mentioning Litton specifically. Al Mohler has remained silent on the issue.