Could Not Contain

Could Not Contain.  It is immensely satisfying to run through a pen’s ink, which I did about once a week when I was in student-mode. If I could cap that feat by also hitting the trash can with the empty Paper-Mate® on a fade-away jump shot, then that would be even better!

Learning is a gift. May our literal and metaphorical ink pens be steadily running dry from jotting down notes, like gemstones from our Teacher. Most of the world’s pastors, however, have never had even one theological credit hour from even one formally trained mentor. Granted, those pastors throughout the world are not in a state of deficit since they have the Holy Spirit and at least some portion of the Bible in a language that they sort of know how to speak. Furthermore, we who have been well-trained (and every Christian in every pew in every church throughout America has, at the very least, had access to excellent spiritual instruction) are not better-off than our Majority World brothers and sisters. In many ways, we need them to teach us: about the cost of discipleship, about suffering, about contentment with godliness, about priorities. We have information, but they have wisdom.

It is a staggering sight to look at all the filled composition notebooks that I have filled with ink over the years from so many excellent teachers, mentors, and pastors. That is opulent wealth—unlimited access to learning. However, at the end of the day, we don’t need more and more data contained in a shelf of notebooks; we need Jesus Christ proclaimed in life, illuminated by light, and demonstrated through love.

The Apostle John gave an incredible, albeit parenthetical, word picture illustrating the same concept. He wrote his epistles, his gospel account, and his book of Revelation after all the other biblical writers were dead and gone. The others had said so much, Peter and Paul and the rest, but the Spirit pressed upon John to tie things off in terms of the special revelation of God given to humankind. While he was tying things off, he dropped a bombshell commentary about his own task of putting ink to parchment. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30). Many other signs? Wait a second! While the Bible is complete and completely true, it is not comprehensive—there is vastly more that could be written on the subject of Jesus! “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

Could we with ink the ocean fill, / And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill, / And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above, / Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, / Though stretched from sky to sky.

—"The Love of God” (Frederick Lehman, 1917)