When the Lord showed me the bamboo, it was the root system. Did you know that there could be acres of bamboo, and they are all connected by one root? At first, I thought he wanted me to teach on the unity in the body of Christ - but no. It was the connection and oneness we should have with all the sinners. We must identify with them as parts of ourselves.
We tend to preach, "Lord, help THEM", like we are standing apart (above) them. But, the old prophets who were very holy and were not into idolatry etc.identified with the people who were sinning and prayed, "Lord, WE have sinned...."
Just a sample....