1 Timothy 3 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Here's something you can trust: if anyone aspires to be a community overseer, they're reaching for something worthwhile.

So an overseer needs to be someone no one can point a finger at — faithful to their spouse, clear-headed, self-controlled, respectable, welcoming to strangers, and able to teach.

They shouldn't be a heavy drinker or someone who picks fights, but instead gentle, not argumentative, and not obsessed with money.

They should manage their own household well, with children who respect and obey them.

(After all, if someone can't manage their own household, how could they possibly take care of God's gathered community?)

They shouldn't be a new convert — otherwise they might get an inflated ego and fall into the same judgment as the adversary.

They also need to have a good reputation with people outside the community, so they don't fall into disgrace and the adversary's trap.

In the same way, those who serve the community should be people of integrity — not two-faced, not into heavy drinking, and not out to make a quick buck.

They must hold onto the deep truth of the faith with a clear conscience.

And they should be tested first too. Then, if nothing is held against them, let them serve.

The women who serve alongside them should also be people of integrity — not gossips, but clear-headed and trustworthy in everything.

Those who serve the community should be faithful to their spouse and manage their children and household well.

Because those who serve well earn a respected standing and great confidence in their trust in The One Jesus.

I'm writing this to you hoping to come see you soon,

but if I'm delayed, I want you to know how people should conduct themselves in God's household — which is the gathered community of the living God, the foundation and bulwark of the truth.

And there's no question — the deep truth at the heart of our devotion to God is extraordinary: He appeared in a human body, was shown to be right by the Breath, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was trusted throughout the world, and was taken up in magnificent splendor.