Tag Archives: purposed

day 2009: The Front Porch

“But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.”

Yesterday I wrote of the light that gets left on for us to safely welcome and guide us to a place we have not been before or that feels unknown. That light many times is on the front porch, or in the front entry of a home or a building. The “Front Porch” was a way of life at one time in the U.S.. The front porch was where we gathered as family and friends to watch the world go by. Even in cities, because they didn’t have them, they used the stoop of the steps as the same gathering place. What was amazing about the front porch was that you never knew who might stop and say hi, or even who might be new to us that were walking by for the first time. The front porch was about being okay with welcoming the unknown. And then, the front porch was replaced by the back patio. The back patio is a place of invitation. We control who and when someone comes there. It is not at all about the unknown, it all about the known. In many ways industry went the same way. Small neighborhood, locally owned businesses were replaced by chains and big box retail. Main streets became abandoned for shopping malls and later the internet. Industries that once required face-to-face people contact were replaced by transparency and technology. And so, we moved from the front porches to the back patios. Have our customer support groups done the same? Are we more concerned about the technology that tracks our customer issues than the people who can resolve those issues? It’s worth considering if we are spending time on the front porch or on the back patio?

Jesus made it clear that our faith is built on and for the front porch and a front porch way of living. Even in His own life on earth, it became impossible for those who saw Him to stop themselves from telling others and spreading the word about Him.  It’s when we pull back and hang out only on the back patio of life that we miss the opportunity to shine His light out and beyond the known. Figuratively, if we don’t come out of our workspace and engage with others who we might not normally interact, then it is not that different from keeping our faith and life example on the back patio instead of the front porch.

Reference: Matthew 9:31 (New Living Translation)