Tizaz
Statute 16
Overview
Matthew sets out the qualifications and duties of deacons, including purity, impartiality, care for the needy, instruction, correction, consolation, and discipline.
1Matthew said: Deacons shall be ordained, as it is written: “By the testimony of two and three, every word shall be established.”
2They shall be examined concerning every aspect of the service, having the testimony of all the people that they live with one wife and have raised their children in purity. They shall be merciful and humble, not murmurers or double-tongued, and not wrathful, because wrath depraves a wise person.
3They shall not show partiality to the rich or act unjustly toward the poor. They shall not drink much wine, and they shall work diligently for the hidden Mystery and the beauty of consolation.
4They shall instruct those among the brethren who have something to give to the one who has nothing, and thus they too shall share in giving. They shall honor everyone with all honor, modesty, and fear, and shall keep themselves in complete purity.
5Some they shall teach, some they shall question, some they shall reprove, and some they shall console. As for the rejected, they shall expel them at once. They shall know that those who oppose—the revilers and the rejected—are your adversaries.