DREAM BY MARY LLOYD.

Matt. 25:40

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Matt. 25:45

"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

Dream.

A strong, wooden box, one side open to view. Inside a respectable, suited man which began to inflate to ridiculous proportions, threatening to burst. The wooden structure was unchanging, and would not yield to the increasing size of the inflating man.

The dream is one of boundaries, and contrasts. The inflating man represents the church, the part which is visible to but not among the world. The wooden structure represents Christ, in the sense that the church is "in Christ". But this part of the church is deliberately inflating itself, getting bigger and bigger in its own eyes, seemingly more powerful, seemingly more respectable and impressive, seemingly greater in every possible way. But the so-called "growth" does not "impress" Christ, who changes not. It is only so-called growth, which amounts to hot air. Onlookers, the church in the world and the world itself, can see the self-inflation for what it is.

The dream is one of boundaries because some of us in Christ prefer to stay within familiar confines knowing our being "in Christ" but refusing to express "Christ in us" by going into the world. The reason is because this part of the church prefers to become great in its own eyes, enjoying the privileges of office and ministry that have been given it. But ministry is the same as servant hood, and this part of the church only wants to serve itself. It has no interest in anyone else: it wants business as usual.

It is also a dream of contrasts, since the inflating figure, great in its own importance, is not great in the Kingdom. It is not interested in having much to do with the "least"  unless it is to convince others of its spirituality and thus feed self-importance.

Another contrast is its "respectability" - reputation and appearances count for much among its number, and at that end of the scale it has a clear idea of who the "least" are. It believes it must be separate from them, and largely keeps it this way.
         In the dream the solid, dependable wooden structure which does not change contrasts with the ever-changing but insubstantial nature of the inflatable man: Solid truth, Biblical promises, Christ's unchanging nature, dependability, a building material, contrasting with increasing amounts of hot air. There was also a sense of the wood representing "Christ in us", where the church was concerned only with "us in Christ".

The apparent greatness of the figure was very easily deflated and destroyed.

Summary:

We are commanded to "go". It has always been so. If it is at all upon our agenda to "be the greatest" now is the time to cancel it. Notions of self-importance do not impress God, and are clearly visible to the world outside. Christ in us, solid and dependable, built within our structure, is the answer to the hungry and hurting world. Christ, who always identifies with the least, asks us to identify with "these His brethren" by becoming the least ourselves. Once we abandon our position of importance to prefer poverty and simplicity we will be united, bonded together with Christ, solid and tangible, and ready to incorporate others within our structure.

Love from Mary.