The importance of
the Bahá'í administration is its values in serving as a facilitator of the
emergence and maintenance of community life in a wholly new mode, and in
catering to the requirements of the spiritual relationships which flow from
love and unity among the friends. This touches upon a distinguishing
characteristic of Bahá'í life which such spiritual relationships foster,
namely, the spirit of servitude to God, expressed in service to the Cause, to
friends and to humanity as a whole. The attitude of the individual as a
servant, an attitude pre-eminently exemplified in the life and person of
`Abdu'l-Bahá, is a dynamic that permeates the activities of the Faith; it
acquires collective, transformative force in the normal functioning of a
community. In this regard, the Institutions of the Faith stand as channels for
the promotion of this salient characteristic. It is in this framework that the
concepts of rulership and leadership, authority and power are properly
understood and actualized.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated
19 May 1994 to a National Spiritual Assembly; ‘Unlocking the Power of Action’,
a compilation prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of
Justice)
