It is easy to read the Bible narratives and think of how undiscerning Israel was. But we do the same thing they did when we neglect to discern those around us. We think we know someone, but many times we are making assumptions based on what we have heard about them or even based on our personal experience of them. But to truly know someone is to see them, to discern who they are becoming and love them where they are.
The other day I was asked, “Do you know this famous persons?” Immediately I answered, “Yes” and then caught myself, “Well, I don’t know him personally, but I know who he is.” But that isn’t even completely true. It takes years of marriage before many couples feel like they really know each other. I had a discussion with a friend the other day about how we can know people in a ministry setting or a work setting, but we don’t really know who they are. We have an idea, but we haven’t truly experienced that person. An ancient philosopher once said that one can learn much more about someone in one hour of play than in hours of discussion. The honest reality is that people posture themselves in discussion, but when playing beach volleyball we drop our walls and are who we really are. It isn’t like we do it intentionally; we just get caught up in things.
When I left home for college, my dad wrote me a letter. In it he said that I was breaking out of a cocoon. I had lived in a community that thought they knew who I was and what they could expect from me, but I was about to step out into whoever I wanted to be. I took this seriously, so the first day of college when asked “what is your name?” I changed my name. Up until that day, I had always been known as Vincent to family, close friends, teachers and coaches. But in that moment I said “Vince”, and since that day I have been known as such.
John the apostle uses a word that is rarely translated “know” in this verse. The word John uses primarily means “to see or perceive”. It is the same word that he used in the book of the Revelation when he saw something in the visions he had on Patmos Island. John the Baptist wasn’t saying that the people he was talking to had never met Jesus. Rather, they had not spiritually discerned Him for who He is.
We do this with the people around us all the time. There are people you live with every day that are much more than you understand. CS Lewis wrote, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” It is true, no one you have ever spoken to will cease to exist in 1000 years. Man is immortal, that is great news for some and bad news for others. But the plain and awesome truth is that everyone you know is an image bearer and a supernatural person that is eternally loved by the most powerful being in existence. On top of that glaring reality, when you look across the table at meals, each person you see shoveling food into their face is, in fact, an access point for you to encounter Jesus. We are portals, doors, gateways into the supernatural realms. Soon we will begin to see, know and relate to each other in this way.
When we begin to see people for who they are becoming, it will be easy to receive what they have to give. It will become increasingly difficult to criticize people, insult people or allow people to get away with things that will harm them in moving forward in their calling. Our eyes are being opened up to see, to know, to discern people as they will be and be unoffended by who they currently are. We will be able to love them easier, enjoy them better and have patience with them in their immaturity – just like Jesus loves us, enjoys us and is patient with us.
*Jesus, grant us the grace to not just know You, but to discern You and Your people.
