Douglas Young

My friend, Bobby Cohoon, has Unity Month going on at his blog. Bobby asked me to be a guest writer for him. My post has been up since last evening.

Bobby, thanks for the invitation to be a guest writer at Here in the Real World!

Doug

If you are in need of insurance, Clovis NM is the place to come! Insurance agencies are in abundance. Take your pick from any of the big boys: Allstate, Farmers or State Farm. Or you can go with one of a number of independent agents. There’s definitely no shortage of insurance agencies from which to choose.

Consequently, I’ve noticed that when it comes to Farmers and State Farm agencies, in particular, there are more than just a few of each. On my short drive to the office I count four different State Farm agencies and there is at least one more not on my route to the office.  Knowing the insurance business is extremelycompetitive, I wonder if all the State Farm agents get along. Is there enough business to go around, or does the competition create tension? Do these agents, serving the same company, get along? I’ve come to learn something of an answer to the question. After all, I’m a fan of my State Farm agent, Mike Morris, the one not on my route to the office.

Over the years, I haven’t had the best of relationships with other preachers in communities where I’ve lived. My relationship with ministers of other faiths was non-existent, but it wasn’t much better with those of other Churches of Christ.

Especially in the South, Churches of Christ are ubiquitous in communities. Large cities are prone to having tons of congregations. Sadly, though, a lot of small communities are prone to having a significant number of them, as well. I’m no longer certain whether this is good or bad. We are a people who’ve been prone to division. Much of that division is born out of people believing they were doing the right thing, which may or may not have actually been the case. That it looks so terrible that communities of 10,000 or less might have five or more congregations, I wish more would see. All you have to do is ask around and you’ll discover that we’ve marginalized ourselves because we struggle to get along with one another.  

My time in Clovis, though, has been different for me personally. I have a wonderful relationship with Larry Tittle, the preacher for the West 21st Street Church of Christ. He’s become a very dear friend to me. In the year that I’ve been with 16th & Pile, we have done a lot together. We’ve played golf, had coffee, ate lunch, worshiped, studied, and prayed with each other. We’ve done all of these activities, and more, on more than one occasion.

I am proud of the relationship Larry and I have forged. Sadly, I am on my way to the NM Christian Children’s Home and will no longer be preaching at 16th, but that doesn’t mean we will no longer be getting together. After all, Portales, NM is only 20 miles from Clovis.

Here’s what I love most: for the last twelve months, anyone who might have wondered if the preachers from the 16th & Pile Church of Christ and the West 21st St. Church of Christ got along could be answered in the affirmative!

It becomes painstakingly obvious, both through perception of others and personal experience, that relationships can be messy. Marriage. Parental. Friendships. Church. You name it. Humans make relationships messy.

2 Corinthians 12:11-21 is a passage I find terribly saddening. That Paul felt compelled to bring the epistle to a close with such words is so unfortunate. Once again, it’s proof that relationships can be incredibly messy.

I can think of only one relationship that is devoid of such dysfunction: Father, Son and Spirit. And yet Christ prayed as if it were possible for his followers to actually function in divine harmony,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe on me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them as you loved me. John 17:20-23.

The trinity sets the precedent for relational harmony. This is why living by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) is requisite. Our relationship with the divine paves the way for harmonious accord in the body (Romans 8:5-11; Romans 12:4-8). Where the divine is absent in human relationships, so is the potential for perfect oneness one with another.