we're not early adopters.

"Early adopters" are people who adapt and embrace change quickly.  They are often the first to embrace a trend.  They are the ones who waited in line for the iPhone's release, eBay-ed a Wii, switched to being a cell phone-only family... you get the idea.

I don't live in a culture dominated by early adopters.  

I live in a smaller-sized city in the northeastern part of Iowa.

Now, I'd say that I live in a community comprised of some early adopters.

But, by and large, most of us midwesterners are not early adopters.  It's just not really a part of our culture here.  We're notorious for being skeptical, slow to adopt a trend, and more comfortable with the stylings of decades gone by.

Examples?  The Gap came and left.  It took forever for us to have 3G cell phone service.  It's big news when a Sonic franchise finally comes to town.

I have a love-hate relationship with this part of our culture.  Here's what I love about it:

• Overall, we're much less materialistic than other areas of the country.  We don't have to have the newest gadgets, gizmos, clothes, etc.  
• We live life at a much healthier pace.  Granted, our diets are a lot worse than some other parts of the country.  But we don't live at such a frenetic pace as those other places that live and die on the next trend.
• We compare ourselves to one another to a lesser degree.  We don't have to live in cookie-cutter neighborhoods where the list of community standards is longer than a 16-year-old girl's birthday wish list.
• We're more comfortable in our own skin.  I'm not driven by the need to convince you that I'm relevant, ahead of the times, or in-the-know by my possessions or appearance.
• We embrace, promote, and protect a higher quality of life.  Here you can go on a walk.  Here you actually take vacation.  Here family is important and much of our extended family is close by.  Here you aren't afraid to go outside.  We go to our kids' games, hunt and fish, prize education, and enjoy the simple things as we live within our means.

But here's what I hate about it:

• We let too many good ideas pass by.  We put way too many obstacles and standards and filters in front of a new idea.  If it's different, every last facet of its difference must be put under the microscope before it's even tried... much less adopted.
• We're too focused on the past and not focused enough on the future.  We enjoy reminiscing about times gone by more than we enjoy dreaming of what could be.
• We value our own comfort too much.  There's a reason why we're more obese than many other parts of the country, and why "comfort food" most likely has a Midwestern origin.  If it makes us uncomfortable, we're probably not going to try it.  If it's comfortable, we'll probably consume too much of it.
• Momentum is a plant not easily grown in our soil.  Too many questions, too many detractors, too many stick-in-the-muds, too many people unwilling to sign on or sign up or give it a try or change their lives to get the flywheel moving.
• We're insulated.  We put our trust in our mistrust of outsiders.  We sometimes wear irrelevance like it's a badge.  We surround ourselves with the familiar over the new.  We are forever in danger of creating a world that is a fixed point in time rather than living with the world as it develops.

The next post will have to do with how I see this impacting our church culture.  But until then: do you agree?  Disagree?  Why?