Qualifications for Church Leaders and the Mystery of Godliness
1 Timothy 3:1-16
1The saying is trustworthy: if anyone aspires to oversight, he desires a good work.2Therefore the overseer must be irreproachable, a man of one woman, sober, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.3Not drunken, not a bully, but gentle, peaceable, not greedy.4Managing his own household well, having children in submission with all dignity.5But if anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the assembly of God?6Not a new convert, lest he become puffed up and fall into the judgment of the devil.7And he must also have a good testimony from those outside, so that he may not fall into reproach and the trap of the devil.8Servants likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for gain.9Holding the mystery of the faith with a clean conscience.10And let these also be tested first; then let them serve, being irreproachable.11Women likewise must be dignified, not slanderous, sober, faithful in all things.12Let servants be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.13For those who have served well obtain for themselves a good standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.14I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you soon.15But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the household of God, which is the assembly of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth.16And undeniably the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.