"The inverse of Christianity..."

[carsonc]

I'm new to the board, but I ran across this and thought it would be an interesting addition as a stylistic difference between Christianity and the Baha'i Faith. It was written by the wife of one of the central figures of the Baha'i Faith, and while not authoritative, it did get me thinking:

The whole object of our lives is bound up with the lives of all human beings: not a personal salvation we are seeking, but a universal one. We are not to cast eyes within ourselves and say "Now get busy saving you[r] soul and reserving a comfortable berth in the Next World!" No, we are to get busy on bringing Heaven to the Planet. That is a very big concept. The Guardian then went on to explain that our aim is to produce a world civilization which will in turn react on the character of the individual. It is, in a way, the inverse of Christianity which started with the individual unit and through it reach out to the conglomerate life of men. <http://bahai-library.com/letters/khanum.letter.1948.html>

Baha'u'llah, in addressing Christians, says something similar in one of His tablets:

Verily, He (Jesus) said: ‘Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.’ In this day, however, We say: ‘Come ye after Me, that We may make you to become quickeners of mankind.’ <http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-32.html>

While I prefer one approach over the other, I certainly don't oblige others (in a Christian forum, no less) to take the same view. However, this might be one reason that Christian/Baha'i dialogue can reach an impasse, specifically that the notion that one should be wholly and exclusively concerned with personal salvation. To be honest, I'm not convinced that the Bible supports a narrow view of the singular importance of personal salvation, but it is easy to get that impression, and for all I know, it may be true.

[JAYMZ]

What you call " personal salvation " is just people relating to their creator.

Its the Sheppard looking for His sheep.

Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

John 10:16
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.