7. Church officials are in charge of God's work, and so they must also have a good reputation. They must not be bossy, quick-tempered, heavy drinkers, bullies, or dishonest in business.
8. Instead, they must be friendly to strangers and enjoy doing good things. They must also be sensible, fair, pure, and self-controlled.
9. They must stick to the true message they were taught, so that their good teaching can help others and correct everyone who opposes it.
10. There are many who don't respect authority, and they fool others by talking nonsense. This is especially true of some Jewish followers.
11. But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not.
12. It is like one of their own prophets once said,“The people of Cretealways tell lies.They are greedy and lazylike wild animals.”
13. That is a true saying. And you should be hard on such people, so you can help them grow stronger in their faith.
14. Don't pay any attention to any of those senseless Jewish stories and human commands. These are made up by people who won't obey the truth.
15. Everything is pure for someone whose heart is pure. But nothing is pure for an unbeliever with a dirty mind. That person's mind and conscience are destroyed.
16. Such people claim to know God, but their actions prove that they really don't. They are disgusting. They won't obey God, and they are too worthless to do anything good.