The Porch and the Platform

I'm learning that there is a critical connection between my porch and my platform.

My porch is not a metaphor. It's quite literally my front porch, which I never imagined I would have in DC. While I technically have an office space with ergonomic and helpful IKEA furniture inside the house, my favorite office is my front porch. It's the place I meet with God, the place I connect with friends, the place I coach leaders, and the place where my world most often intersects with the world of my neighbors.

My platform...well, that's more of a metaphor. The platform could be the stage I stand on tonight as I talk to small group leaders. It could be the trendy pulpit I occasionally stand behind at National Community Church. It could be the passions I am known for. It could be this blog. It's the place where my message is communicated.

My message is shaped on the porch and by the other people who sit on my porch. If I'm not faithful to that place, I should never have a platform. The character, relationships and dreams that are built and fueled on the porch will eventually find expression on the platform. But I've got to live it first. Likewise, anything that I say on the platform must be lived out on the porch. And the people who sit there with me will know if my message is fueled by authenticity.

Don't aim for the platform; take some time to sit on the porch. And if you are on the platform, make sure you are preaching a message that you live on your porch during the other hours of your life.