to become or to BE

I liked when Bonhoeffer how Jesus says to the disciples that they ARE the salt and light not that they will become the salt and light or that they have the salt and light. Do you guys feel that you ARE the salt and light? That's a pretty big challenge. It's not like we can take a break from BEING salt and light. It's like can I sometimes stop being Asian? If we ARE salt and light then why are we not showing it?