Gracism: The Art of InclusionSample

Everyone Has A Dot

Maybe you’ve heard of the social experiment in which ten people were to interview at a company. Before they went into the office for the interview, a red dot was painted on one cheek of each interviewee. After each interview, the interviewee was debriefed. Each of the ten interviewees stated that the interviewer kept staring at the dot on his or her cheek.

Here is the kicker: Out of the ten who received a painted dot, five—unbeknownst to them—were actually given a clear dot that was not visible on their skin. Yet they still felt as if the interviewer was focusing on their dot. From this experiment we learn that people can feel self-conscious about whatever might make them insecure. In our everyday lives, that insecurity might relate to one’s weight, gender, race, or any other distinctive characteristic that is viewed as a negative in society.

Do you ever feel like people are treating you poorly because of your red dot?

Many “dotted” people in our society have been wrongly accused, denied promotions, jailed, and treated as less than human because of their dots. So after a while, dotted persons understandably recognize that others treat them as though their dottedness or distinctions are a liability.

As you can see, we’re not just talking about dots on cheeks but deeper issues of how societal differences have the power to divide and cause damage. One of the most prominent forces that we face in our society is when people think, speak, or act negatively toward others solely based on their color, class, or culture.

With such a pain-filled reality, we turn to Christ to ask, “is there any good news that the gospel has that can overcome the power of dotism and racism in society and even in the church?”

There is—it’s gracism. I define gracism as the positive extension of favor to others regardless of and sometimes because of their color, class, or culture.

The gospel of grace tells us that the primary “distinctive” that marks every human is the image of God. Jesus desires us to acknowledge this gracious mark of dignity on everyone, especially those most vulnerable to social exclusion. Can you imagine a world full of “gracists”? It sounds like heaven on earth.

Stop and pray now that God would transform you into someone whose life is marked by the distinctive love of Grace incarnate—Jesus Christ.