Due Diligence 2.13.2025

     I once served at a church where there were a couple of deacons that took maintaining the facilities seriously. They were cousins who grew up during the depression and there were few issues with any structure that they could not take care of. I had the opportunity (joy) to work with them on a couple of projects and one matter that I noticed was the amount of time they spent checking their own work. I had heard the old saying “measure twice, cut once” many times. Working with Ward and Wilbur was a clinic in the process. 

    They measured. They drew. They laid out lines in pencil and chalk. They re-measured while I held something in place, then after it was secured, they measured again. I learned a valuable lesson from them. It does not matter what you are doing, or how talented you are if you don’t take the time to do it right. I am not a capable handy man, but I did learn a valuable lesson about real productivity. If you have to do it twice, it might have been a good idea to pay better attention to details, and get it done right the first time. 

    In law or management this kind of practice is called due diligence. Loosely speaking, due diligence is the moral imperative to pay attention to details when you are signing a contract or making an “existential” decision. It is an interesting concept because it juxtaposes what is “legal” with what is “right.” Most of us are well aware of situations where a company or friend was exposed to jeopardy by a contract or agreement that was perfectly legal but flawed. Due diligence concerns itself with avoiding that kind of mistake. 

    Most of us who write sermons and listen to them preached have been present for a message that betrayed evidence of a breach of the preacher’s due diligence responsibility. This may come in the sermon itself when a point he was making was stated as fact when it was opinion or hearsay. It also occurs when a preacher insists on using language that is not clear, accurate, and on point. The goal of preaching is to be both clear and accurate. Due diligence for preaching requires a process of measuring, checking, studying, clarifying, re-measuring, and fitting. An accurate, poorly worded message does not help, nor does flowery heresy, or opaque evasion. People need led and fed. We work under a moral imperative to get things right. Let me give an example and then discuss some strategies for “measuring twice.”

    Last week I preached from Matthew 6.5-15. The sermon focused on prayer and discussed the Lord’s model prayer which ends with this verse

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13 ESV)

It should be common knowledge that the King James translation tradition contains the doxology…” for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever; Amen”.  It should also be common knowledge that this represents an early, broadly attested textual tradition, which was not a part of Matthew’s original text, most likely added during the transmission process. I have never preached from the KJV and do not regularly read from that translation. Most weeks I survey several English translations in addition to the original text. None of the translations I usually consult contain the doxology to the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t mention it in the sermon, and no one asked why I did not read it or discuss it. But I was ready.  I had “measured twice” by going over the data (thought I’ve reviewed it dozens of times). In a common text, when there is a textual issue due diligence requires the preacher to go over the textual evidence and to be prepared to discuss it. In most cases a textual question should not make it into the sermon. Due diligence is as much about what is omitted as it is about what is written, but we do the work to be adequately prepared. 

    And the process goes beyond textual questions. There is theology, practical application, colloquial misunderstanding, and traditional misstatements about Biblical texts that need to be reviewed. This takes time. This takes patience. This takes craftsmanship. Measuring twice ensures that the cut, when it is made, is accurate. What can the working preacher do to ensure that all her due diligence is completed and that the final product—the message is accurate and clear?

1. Do the same thing every single time. 

2. Allow for enough time to think. 

3. Do thorough exegesis. 

4. Work through multiple drafts. 

5. Find a good proof-reader. 

6. Finish your work. Put it on a shelf or in a drawer. Come back to it for a final check later. 

Those are basic, elementary steps that in one way or another are followed in any intellectual task, particularly writing. I have mentioned this many times. If you are in a hurry or if you are constantly feeling like you are racing the clock, if you leave the work too late in the week and feel like you are running up against the looming Sunday deadline, you need to change how you are doing things. And it begins with point 1—do the same thing every week. If you start early and follow your plan you should have allotted the time you need to study the text and work through multiple drafts. If you don’t have the time you need--start canceling some other commitments because preaching is the most important thing you do. 

    You need a good proof-reader because when you spend a lot of time with something you start to overlook your own errors. It may be your wife or a friend; and you may not need a second set of eyes every week, but you need someone you can send drafts to. And there will be occasions when you need to have them check for more than grammar and spelling. You need someone who is willing to tell you that something sounds wrong. Sometimes you need someone to simply say “This doesn’t sound like you.” 

And the whole process requires air. My practice is to have my sermon done on Monday and to not look at it again until Friday. I set aside time to prepare for worship, check the songs, review announcements, and upload all our worship documents to Facebook on every normal Friday morning. My review habit is as ingrained as the process of preparation. Before that sermon manuscript goes up, I check it again. 

    Is this an ironclad guarantee that I will never misspeak, or allow an exegetical oversight or exaggeration to make it into the sermon? No. We are all human and we all make mistakes. The key is to do the work, to be diligent, and to catch as much as we can. The deadline is set in stone. Every week I must be ready to roll by 10.00 a.m. Sunday morning; earlier actually because I’m not staying up all Saturday night and we have Sunday School before worship. 

    This is the second draft of this essay. I have made at least 6 changes while completing this draft. Tomorrow I will go over it again before I post it. Generally, my Thursday edits are focused on grammar and spelling. Yet there are times when I need to fix something (I did). I don’t become discouraged or upset because my process includes and expects multiple drafts. The key to effective due diligence is this mental, procedural habit of measuring twice, cutting once. In preparing sermons, essays, lessons, and articles to instruct the Church this process takes different form than carpentry, but the intent is the same. Get it as right as possible. Not because we are “perfectionists” but because our people deserve, and our Master expects our best effort. Get out your “tools” and get to work, friends.