Love is the Answer

So, how is Christianity not Magick?  How is Simon Peter different from Simon Magus? In the orthodox tradition, so far as I understand it, the answer seems to be what you love.  Magus seeks power, or wealth, or knowledge, or fame, or pleasure for himself.  Contemplative Christian seeks divinization not for his own salvation only but for the good of the community, indeed of the world,

How does that play out?  As the contemplative comes more focused on God, he become more transparent to God's light which can then shine into the world and wright changes, improvements, small steps toward the coming of the [need a good word here: 'kingdom' and the like seem all too tyrannical, 'commonwealth' and the like too democratic].  Presumably, Magus, as he proceeds, interposes his selfish purposes, holding the light in and redirecting it along narrow personal lines.  Even the contemplative who seeks only his own salvation, without concern for his neighbors, does not strictly fall inside the Christian sphere.

But does the Magus become a god, can the self-saver find salvation?  In Buddhist terms, are the arhants failures, which only the bodhisattvas can correct?  Is there something built into the process, a part of the ascetic program,  that blocks certain steps from the self-absorbed -- or redirects them on another path, which brings a different reward and one that ties back into the world rather than rising to God?

I just don't know and I can't find the discussion on this to guide me.  Comments urgently sought.