3 Here is a statement you can trust: anyone aspiring to be a congregation leader is seeking worthwhile work.

² A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach.

³ He must not drink excessively or get into fights; rather, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money.

⁴ He must manage his own household well, having children who obey him with all proper respect;

⁵ for if a man can’t manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God’s Messianic Community?

⁶ He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary.

⁷ Furthermore, he must be well regarded by outsiders, so that he won’t fall into disgrace and into the Adversary’s trap.