Last night, I had a fitful night of sleep. In the restless night, I had a dream. I was in a restaurant. A man seated at a table near me turned around and said he knew I was a writer. He asked if I would meet with the leadership team of his organization to consider writing for them. I was invited to follow the man to a large corporate office complex and asked to take a seat. The people milling about were ordinary everyday people you would meet in any business. The races were mixed, as were their sexual orientations and political affiliations.

As I waited for the meeting to begin, I listened to the conversations taking place around me. It became shockingly and glaringly apparent to me, this was a hate group. As a boy, I had seen the black and white photos of this group and the hatred they spread. Just the way they dressed created terror. My thought was, “How in the world would these people ever think I would write for them!”

When the time came for the leaders to make their pitch to me, we left the office area and went into a smaller meeting room. To my utter shock, the room was filled with people from every race on Earth. Those who historically had been a prime target of this group’s hatred represented at least half of the group. I looked hard to find a white person.

As I listened to my introduction given by the man I met in the restaurant, I asked, “Lord, why do you have me here?” Immediately, I knew I was not sent there to confront the obvious sin and gross nature of the group’s mission. I also knew I would not be writing for this group. My only reason for being there was to prophesy hope to the people trapped in a lie. I began speaking one-by-one to those present about their true destiny and then the dream was over. 

I believe I have a broad interpretation of the dream. In the dream, I could hear the Spirit tell me not to confront the obvious sins of racism, hatred of certain people groups and the murderous acts embedded in the group’s history. I was placed in this meeting by God to speak to the individuals who sat before me created in His image now living in a perverse and distorted interpretation of that reality. The diversity sitting before me was meant to help me understand the uniqueness of the human spirit and to look beyond labels and natural indicators. I would miss the purpose of my mission if I did not see into the human heart.

In the coming season, God will put some of you in places of influence you never thought possible, nor would you ask to be there. In my dream, I knew I would only have one opportunity to speak. I stepped over what my flesh wanted to scream out and allowed the Spirit to become the only voice making a sound in the room. 

This will be your assignment when you find yourself in one of these unusual places. You will know you are hearing from God when His love and passion for the people sitting before you will have more influence on what you say than your disgust and distrust. If you are willing to be used by God in this way and not default to the failed over-reactive response of a religious spirit, you will see the miracle of an individual transformation take place. Only a personal transformation has the power to dismantle a group or organization whose mission is contrary to the heart of God. God transforms individuals to transform culture. The individual will be the intended audience for your voice.