Culture Shock

As most of you know, Fort Worth and Dallas are only about 20 miles apart in proximity. But I told someone the other day, sometimes I feel like someone airlifted me into a foreign culture and dropped me off. It's a different world over here.

I snapped this picture at a barbeque restaurant some of the guys took me to the other day in Fort Worth. This sign reflects the sentiment of most of the people in Fort Worth.

I've recently discovered that I no longer live in "Dallas/Fort Worth." That name is an insult to people in Fort Worth. Fort Worthers don't care to be identified in the same sentence as Dallas. When they find out you moved over from Dallas, they're quick to point out a more laid-back atmosphere, the lack of traffic, better food, and lower property taxes. In fact, on more than one occasion when I've mentioned I just moved over from Dallas, the response has been "What took you so long?"

It is a little more laid back over here. There isn't traffic like in Dallas. So far, the food does seem to be better. But those are not the only difference between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Fort Worth thrives on industries like Lockheed-Martin, Alcon, and the railroad industry. Dallas thrives on smaller, more entrepeneur-type industries. As a result, the people in Dallas have a much more independently creative type mindset while people in Fort Worth think like engineers. That's reflected in our church big-time. The worship services are more structured, rigid (in a good way), and to-the-point than most of the worship services I've been a part of in Dallas.

It's interesting that both the church I served at in Dallas and the church where I'm currently serving in Fort Worth are functioning at an extremely high level, but neither would work in the other culture. Fellowship Bible Church North would not function well as it is in South Fort Worth. McKinney Church would not function well in a Dallas atmosphere - even though they're only twenty miles apart. And I think that's a good thing. Both churches have such a laser focus on the culture they're attempting to reach that if they were ripped out of that culture, much of their effectiveness would be lost.