I’ve never been much of an Art History buff, but Pointillism has always fascinated me. Its a painting technique where, instead of actually painting an object, the artist gives the impression of the object using many small dots. One of my favorite scenes in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is where Ferris and crew visit the Chicago Museum of Art. One of the images that has always stuck with me is where Cameron is looking at “A Sunday Afternoon in the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Gorges Seurat. He begins to look at the face of the little girl in the painting and sees that the girl is not really an actual girl at all, but many dots that give the impression of a girl.
Not too long ago, I was spending some time seeking the Lord with our church leadership team, and I was reminded of this scene. Yes, evidently God has seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I began to realize that God is a Pointillist. We Christians are not being asked to produce some glorious, beautiful painting with our lives. We are simply called to be a dot. Kinda takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? As we grow in Him, we allow Him to make us the right color dot to achieve the overall picture He desires. We also allow Him to place our dot in whatever part of the painting He needs us to be in. Then, He connects our dots and we, as a unified selfless mass of dots, can be seen by the world as the beautiful masterpiece God has created.
When I talk about being the right color dot, I’m talking about being who God has called you to be. Color is an interesting thing. We perceive color when an object reflects light. In the same way, those of us who “walk in the light as He is in the light” should be reflecting Him in our own unique “color” that He has called us to be. You may be a green dot. I may be a yellow dot. That’s OK – we need to be different color dots in order to properly reflect the full design of the painting God is creating on Earth. Be the dot God has made you to be, and allow others to be their own color. Who would marvel at a painting of a bunch of green dots? How boring! Walk in confidence with your own unique giftings and callings.
Once we get the color of our dot right, we also need to make sure we’re allowing God to place our dot in the right part of the painting – the where of His will. What is the “scene” God is calling you to be a part of? A dot by itself is just a dot. But a dot arranged together with other dots is how an image can be seen. Allow yourself to be part of something bigger than yourself. You are called to community. You need other people and they need you. Get your dot in the right spot – get plugged in, be a part of a local community of believers and serve within your unique calling.
I say we stop trying to be the whole painting. Just learn to be a dot – your dot. Don’t be afraid to be the color dot God made you, and reflect Him your own way. Allow God to place you were He needs you. Then He’ll connect the dots and reveal to the world the beautiful masterpiece of Redeemed Humanity painted with the blood of Christ.
