Two generations

This morning I awoke from a dream. This is the dream:

I was at some sort of ministry school or center at which there were many students and volunteers. I was not a student, so I must have been a volunteer. As I was helping set up for some sort of event, I was with a girl, and it was unclear whether we were involved relationally or not, but we were working together and were enjoying conversation with each other. She was pretty, and I liked her, but I could tell that there was something about her that was wild and rebellious.

As we finished up something we were working on, we started walking and talking toward the main building. As we were walking, I began talking to her about how people try to be different for the sake of non-conformity, and end up looking just like the other non-conformists. At the entrance, a very large woman, seven or eight feet tall grabbed the girl by the arm and yanked her aside. The large woman began telling the girl to be expecting to face the disciplinary actions being taken against her (the girl) by this woman, and that the girl would probably be kicked out for what she had done (it was not said what the girl had done).

The large woman was furious and left, and I followed her to a type of service window where she waited in line in order to fill out paperwork against the girl. I confronted her at the window. At the same time, there was also a small balding man who was a nervous and fearful type, and he also wanted to take disciplinary action against my friend, the young girl.

As I confronted them, I told the woman (sarcastically in order to exemplify the behavior she was displaying) that I was going to recommend that she not be allowed into heaven for her use of violence against the younger girl by yanking her arm off.

The small man seemed to understand my point much better than the large woman, and I moved away from the woman, and began reasoning with the man about what was going on.

At this point I woke up from the dream.

Me: Lord what was that dream all about?

God: There are many undesireables out there who want to know Me. the religious and the fearful try to change them from who they are, in order to fit them into a mold, and when they will not change, the fearful and the religious would have them kicked out.

Will you go to bat for them? Will you not only show the religious the violence in their behavior, but counsel the rebellious? Can you make peace from generation to generation? This is My church.

Me: Are you asking me, Lord?

God: Patrick, among those who followed Me were Pharisees, tax collectors and prostitutes. There was peace and unity among them. Do you know why?

Me: You say there was peace, but they quarreled over who was going to sit next to You in heaven. But, since You say there was peace, I would imagine it was because You were there with them.

God: They quarreled when they only saw themselves. But, when they had learned that to lead takes a position of servanthood, their example inspired like humility in those around them, and it exposed those people whose motives were evil. Paul reasoned with the religious, and although they heard reason, the jealousy in them often got the better of them. Don't expect reason to work all the time. religion makes people unreasonable.

Me: I don't understand. Lord, why are You showing me this?

God:The present dynamic of the Church is one of disparity between an old guard religion who are afraid of the young rebellious generation entering the church in large quantities. How can they be reconciled? Who can bring them together?

Me: I don't know, Lord. I was doing so in the dream, but it seemed more like I was defending the younger girl because I liked her and she was pretty. But it was clear to me that she probably had been in the wrong at some point. The older woman's reaction, however, was also inappropriate. So, I don't know what You want me to glean or to say about all of this.

God: The point is, Patrick, I have placed you in a position generationally to be a link between these two. You see both sides, and you can pull them together. Learn to serve both groups, and they will learn to cooperate as they see Me in you, and they will learn to become more like Me. But they MUST see Me.

Me: Okay, Lord. I understand that. But how do I do that? My reasoning was ineffective.

God: Patrick, reason is ineffective against the unreasonable, but it is effective with those who would listen. It is not your effort or your wisdom or your ability that unifies. It is My Spirit. The Spirit is with you and in you.