efore the economic downturn, Saturday night plans might have included dinner and a movie. Now, dinner is likely cooked at home and the movie is a DVD rental. What sounds like personal sacrifice is really a shift in priorities, a return to the neighborhood for entertainment and the appreciation of a little structure called the front porch.

New Urbanism, a philosophy that came about in the 1980s, romanticized bygone decades when neighbors and friends gathered in front yards instead of on backyard decks, when people parked in driveways instead of pulling into garages and closing the door on the outside world. 

The front porch, in the first half of the 20th century, was a staple of home construction for its function (a place to find a cool breeze on a hot day) and its focus (a spot to gather, play and socialize). These days, homebuilders are touting “traditional neighborhood” designs as an alternative to suburbs – whole communities where porches, sidewalks and community buildings are a medium for personal connections. 

Good neighbors

Why get to know your neighbors? Neighbors can give each other job leads and watch each other’s homes for signs of criminal activity. They can offer each other parenting advice or babysitting services. With smaller household budgets, families spend their hard-earned dollars on groceries and utilities and find themselves open to the idea of a block party for entertainment.

Experts say community connections – built through face-to-face interaction – have lasting benefits: civic pride, safer youth, senior welfare, lower crime rates. The Bible says these types of relationships have eternal benefits as well.

When an expert in Jewish law asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus answered with two commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

Jesus also made the point that kindness to neighbors and strangers was a show of love for him. In Matthew 25:34-40, he affirms that when a person gives food, shelter and clothing to “one of the least of these brothers of mine, you do it for me.”

Sense of belonging

Today’s marketers use family values, frugality and spirituality to great effect to sell products. Those values are bolstered by the support systems within church walls, volunteer groups, neighborhoods – metaphorical “front porches” that serve as a connecting point for isolated individuals.

Friendships are important in times of trouble (“… do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you – better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.” Proverbs 27:10); when seeking others who share your interests (“But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend.” Psalms 55:12-14).

Finally, God did not intend for us to go it alone, as illustrated in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”