John 14:9 English Standard Version (ESV) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Is this the essence of discipleship? Let us modify the statement to this present day. “Whoever has seen me has seen Jesus. How can you say, ‘Show us Jesus’?”
The essential truth here lies within the context of “I have been with you so long”. To know someone deeper than the superficial appearances takes time. We all appear to be just like any other human and we are physically. The spiritual aspects of our lives are not readily noticeable. It takes time by unbelievers to see that side of us. We are the same but somehow different.
That difference can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. Every effort on our part to “be good” will be seen as human effort. Any good 12 step program will tell you that. The issue long term is not effort it is character. God through the power of the Holy Spirit is building Jesus character qualities within each of us. It will no longer be a human effort it will be the new creature being true to our new nature.
It takes time to build character and it takes time to reveal character. We must not give up on the lost just because in the early days they don’t see us for who we are in Christ. If God has placed a person in your life to disciple then do not give up hope that the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to them.
“I was once like you.”
Ephesians 2:3-5 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyand the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—