Teaching

I’m still working on reading Child of the Covenant, which is definitely one of my favorite books now. There is a chapter on the subject of teaching the Faith which I really enjoyed, and wanted to share some of the Writings and paragraphs from it.

The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is founded on the truth of God’s Revelation and truth cannot be clothed in false standards. It cannot employ the techniques of salesmanship, propaganda, expediency and compromise. The methods used in the commercial world to attract people to new ideas, such as extravagant and sensational publicity based on slogans, extreme statements and similar gimmicks, are all alien to the Cause of God.
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant, p. 249)

This paragraph really hit home for me. I study management and marketing. In the business world, the goal is to make your product stand out, have something different to offer (or seem to have something different). Whatever ploy the marketer can use is fair game. However, in the Baha’i Faith, we have no need of such things. The Faith stands out on its own.

Throughout His ministry Bahá’u’lláh exhorted His followers to teach the Cause of God with great wisdom. He did not approve of teaching the public indiscriminately.
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant, p. 250)

In his teaching work a Bahá’í presents the message of Bahá’u’lláh as one would offer a gift to a king. Since his primary object in teaching is not to increase numbers but rather to bring a soul to its God, a Bahá’í ought to approach his fellow men with feelings of love and humility and, above all, take to them the transforming power of Bahá’u’lláh and nothing of himself. Indeed, if he tries to project himself by impressing upon the listener his knowledge and accomplishments and if he aims to establish the ascendancy of his arguments while teaching the Faith, then the power of Bahá’u’lláh cannot reach him.
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant, p. 249)
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“God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of teaching His Cause. Whoever ariseth to discharge this duty, must needs, ere he proclaimeth His Message, adorn himself with the ornament of an upright and praiseworthy character, so that his words may attract the hearts of such as are receptive to his call. Without it, he can never hope to influence his hearers.”
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 335)

“Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Baha, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds. Such a deed is acceptable only when he that teacheth the Cause is already a firm believer in God, the Supreme Protector, the Gracious, the Almighty.”
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 278)