The Word, not the world

In his latest Daily Encouragement, John Telfer Brown shares some ideas on the power of example in Christian leadership:

I was reading through the book of Acts last week, and I realised that Paul was brilliant when it came to picking leaders for his Church plants. He was the perfect example to each and every one of them. He didn’t ask them to go to Bible College or seminary to get trained, he didn’t ask them to get a diploma or a degree, he simply asked them to imitate him, as he imitated Christ! . . . .

Paul looked for Godly men and put them into positions of leadership, and then gave them the whole counsel of God, with tears in his eyes. It’s time to get the world out of our Churches, and start looking to the word of God, for our examples in training leaders. Just thinking about it, didn’t Jesus do the same thing?

That's a good distinction: the Word, not the world. If we have any experience with Christian leaders, haven't we seen leadership based more on the world (viz., business practices) than the Word? Let's remember that our calling is not to be conformed, but transformed.