The medium is the message

Marshall McLuhan understood something that many ignore:  the way we present ideas has more of an impact than the ideas themselves.  I suggest that the North Texas Conference Strategic Planning Team has indeed ignored this, and unfortunately, it is hurting their cause.

The Wikipedia summary of McLuhan's idea:  "The medium is the message is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. The phrase was introduced in his most widely known book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study. He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself."  

Twice now, Dr. John Fielder has sent emails to the clergy asked us to read important articles giving further explanation to the entire restructuring plan.  The emails contain links to archived copies of the North Texas Reporter.  I just now clicked on the link and timed how long it took me on a wireless DSL connection to open the file:  15 seconds.  That is approximately 14.5 seconds too long for the average person today to wait for a link to load.

Then, once I actually reached the archived newspaper, I had to scroll down halfway down the first page and hope to find the correct article, since a direct hyperlink was not possible, and then scroll several pages further down to find the rest of it. No hyperlink there either.  Because this is a photographic image of the NT Reporter, there is no way to mark and copy portions of the text in order to paste them in another document and make some reasoned responses to them.  Portions of it would have to be retyped into a response document--a huge time waster with the risk of a misquote.  Also, because of the nature of the photo-embedding in a PDF file, there is no way even to make comment about the thoughts and create a hyperlink to a specific point in the articles.  All this greatly limits the possibility of interactive discussion, something the Internet is remarkably good at.

In other words, after re-reading the article (I did read the print version when it came out), it still remains very inaccessible to me for comment and reflection and inaccessible to others in a way that would stimulate more dialogue.

Now, I believe the intent is good, but the medium chosen indicates almost no understanding of how current information flows in what is called "the cloud," that fascinating place of bits and bytes that forms how the younger generation--and much of my admittedly older generation, perceives the world.

Assuming McLuhan is right, and I do believe he is, the very medium being used by the Strategic Planning Committee to communicate a matter of vast importance has obscured the reception of that message almost to indecipherability.

Take what I am writing right now.  This is written in googledocs--none of this is stored on a computer I physically own.  In a few moments, I will publish this as a webpage, where it will immediately be sent to the blog called "A Pastor's Thoughts"  where I offer reflections on church life and also publish the articles that also go into other print media (The Denton Record Chronicle and The Krum Star).  Within 30 minutes after posting this on my blog, a service called "twitterfeed" will pick up on the fact that a new posting as arrived, will send a shorted URL to my Twitter account which, within about 2 seconds, pushes it to my facebook account.  There it is available for reading and comment.  Now, of the hyperlinks I just made in this paragraph, only one goes to the same kind of file the Strategic Team wants me to read.  That is the one to the Krum Star, a lovely, and very tiny, publishing company that publishes small town local papers, full of important information for those localities, but with no influence outside those physical boundaries. I don't think that is the kind of image desired, but that is the kind of image that is sent with this type of communication:  this is hometown news only and we are a lifetime from the cutting edge. The Medium Is the Message.

Much hard work has gone into this year of listening, meeting, planning, and restructuring.  I believe the intent is beyond reproach.  I also believe the medium being used to communicate this plan says, "Out of touch, unaware of the world in which we operate, old school, and how can they possibly be talking about new places for new people?"  

And that is a problem.

I have sent this message to the North Texas Conference Strategic Planning Team.  I don't think it is correct to offer public critique like this without giving them a chance to see it.  I just sense a lot of unrest of the part of clergy and laity about the restructuring plan and wonder if this is part of the problem.  

All comments are very much welcomed.

Mom, Nothing Else Matters

I just got off the phone with my oldest son.  He was phoning from Abu Dhabi, where it was 1:45 a.m. at the time of call. He was preparing to board a flight to London, where upon landing, he will immediately switch terminals, find his wife and two young children and the four of them take off for Bogota, Colombia. By the time they land, Jonathan will have been traveling for about 35 straight hours.

His wife, the lovely and long-suffering Adriana, (because of my son's peripatetic work life, they have lived in six different countries in their seven years of marriage), is ill.  London physicians have recommended immediate surgery, but are vague about the situation.  Adriana wanted to go home to Bogota, where her brother is a well-respected physician, and be treated by people he knew, and in a language and culture where she is far more comfortable.

And Jonathan said, "Nothing else matters."  He quickly coordinated travel plans for the four of them, spending huge sums of money on last minute ticket purchases.  Her brother went to work and lined up a series of specialists that she will see almost immediately upon their arrival in South America.

I asked about his job situation, as I knew he was in the middle of leading a large team on a complicated project there in Abu Dhabi.  His response, "Mom, nothing else matters."  He has simply told people what was happening, and received the same response from them:  "Nothing else matters. Take off."

Jonathan also mentioned that, completely out of the blue, two very, very nice job offers came his way a few days ago and within 45 minutes of each other.  We talked briefly about them, and then he said again, "Right now, nothing else matters."

No matter how complicated our lives are, no matter what lucrative employment opportunities arise, no matter what our colleagues need from us, when someone we love faces a life crisis, nothing else matters.

His voice caught as the tears threatened to flow.  I promised prayers, and offered all love and support.  There is little of a practical nature I can do for them.  Her parents will take good care of her and the children.  I'm useless in Bogota because of my limited Spanish, and the children are better off there than here because of the large extended family is there to offer care, fun, comfort and the more familiar Castilian language.  Plus, my next-in-line daughter-in-law in New York City has just learned she's going to have a C-section on June 9, and I'm the backup plan to help with their three-year-old should there be an early labor and emergency surgery becomes necessary.

Really, nothing else matters at this point.

Now, God does matter . . . and in the providence of God, we have been given the joy of family and close friends to love, to honor and to drop everything for when the crisis hits.  Because, in the long run, the relationship with the ones with whom we live and love in holy covenant really are the only things that matter.  We know this intuitively, and we also know from Christian theology.  God offers salvation to us, God's bride, because . . . nothing else matters. Really.  God held nothing back in the offer of grace.  All was given to us freely.  Because in the long run, nothing else matters.

I ask your prayers for my family.

Reason Number Fourteen

Today I offer reason number fourteen of fifteen about why people choose not to attend a place of worship.  I define a place of worship this way: a gathering of unrelated people where, for at least a couple of hours a week, they intentionally attend to the transformational development of their spiritual life.

Excuse Number Fourteen:  "The church didn't help when I needed it." 

I receive somewhere between three to six calls a week from people I do not know who (choose one): want the church to pay their utility bills; pay for a hotel room; pay for car repairs; and/or want me personally to listen at length to their life story and then give them some money.  If I'm not here when a call comes in, I'll often hear a message, "Call me back IMMEDIATELY."  If I can't give what they need, the caller often hangs up on me. 

One women, phoning the parsonage very late one night, wanted me to go to Western Union and wire her some money, right then.  Recently, I was in a complicated meeting when some stranger walked into the church building, told me he was a United Methodist Pastor from a southern area of the state, and needed help immediately.  I told him I would fill up his car with gas, left the meeting, followed him to the filling station, and inserted my debit card at the pump. I then watched as he pumped a whole 1.8 gallons of gas into his tank before it clicked off.  

Many of these seeking help seem to be reading from a standardized script, for I've heard the same story from multiple people.  "I was just driving through and the (some necessary part) fell out of my car and I have to get to (some distant city) today because I have a job opportunity there."  Or, "I have a very sick child and I'm going to get kicked out of my hotel tonight if you don't come over here right now and give me some money." 

There are others who have tenuous ties to the local church community who expect the church to read their minds, figure out that they need something, and make sure that they get it, and are really upset when it does happen, so decide not to attend any more.

I know that people hit hard times, and others just need a comforting ear.  I help when I can--its part of my responsibility to help our neighbors.  However, I do get frustrated with those who think the purpose of the church is to make their lives easier, to fill their empty pocketbooks while they have no reciprocal obligation to the holy community.  It has long been my experience, both in my own life and in the observance of others, that those who are most generous with time, service and money demand the least. The opposite is very much true:  those who give the least have an uncanny ability to suck others dry.

Let me be clear:  the purpose of the church is NOT to make lives easier or make people rich, no matter what the health, wealth and prosperity preachers say.  The church is called together to become the living embodiment of Christ.  We are to teach, baptize, make disciples, rear our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and practice holy living with one another so we may be equipped to serve the world, move more deeply into our salvation experience, feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, clothe the naked and go to the cross of forgiveness and reconciliation for others.

The church is not here to meet your needs.  That idea comes from a consumerist society, and puts all focus on self, not on a Holy God whose presence calls us to transformational living.  The church is here to remind each of us that we have the Image of God stamped upon our souls, and that we have been given the gift and responsibility to cooperate with God in the healing of the world.  It's a call to sacrifice, not selfishness.

More Ponderings on Itinerancy and Appointability

One of the reasons I chose United Methodism as my place of service is the connectional system. I think such a system ultimately reflects more health and has more opportunity to be fully transformational than stand-alone isolated churches.  Just as I don't think there can be a spiritually healthy Christian who refuses to interact with other Christians, no matter how challenging that can be, I also don't think that churches can be spiritually healthy when they choose to disconnect from other Christian bodies and act fully independently.  I've been a part of the independent Bible church movement, and I know how easy it is for such a place to become cult-like and scarily ingrown.

There are those who have great power in this organization by virtue of position, salary, status and influence.  This has the potential for great good, for good leadership must exercise holy power to actually lead and make important decisions. But power, as most of us know, is also addicting, and, once achieved, very difficult to give up.  And that is where I wonder if giving even more power to Bishops not only to make and fix appointments, but to able to deny someone an appointment for this undefinable "ineffectiveness" reason has crossed the danger line. 

Ideally, an itinerant clergy offers so much to so many.  At its best, congregations are given the right pastoral leadership for their particular time and place of ministry.  Messages are fresh, and the laity know that the church is ultimately theirs to love, nurture and grow, and not a personality cult of a particular clergy person.

At its worst, it is punitive, both for clergy and congregations, and extraordinarily unequal in its manifestations.  Instead of a means of graceful service where needed, it becomes a career path, with reward appointments going to those who know the right people and can play the game well, but who are not necessarily the right person for that particular church or administrative ministry setting.

One question I've often pondered: what would happen if some of the clergy who have the proven gifts and graces to facilitate great growth in churches, or have served with exceptional  competence in high-level administrative positions, were to be appointed to small, struggling, entry-level pay and substandard-parsonage churches? Would they find it part of their connectional responsibility and receive the word of their moves with joy? 

I firmly believe that most clergy with the high-status and high-pay appointments work very, very hard to serve the greater good of the Conference and for the kingdom of heaven.  They are not sitting back in isolated luxury, ignoring their responsibility to the connection.  But they are also not going to be left out of the next round of appointments while the far more vulnerable ones, those who do serve the struggling churches, could easily get axed because they can't show visible results. 

I am just very, very concerned.  It's too much power in the hands of too few. And it is increasing the distrust level that already exists among the clergy.  We are not modeling the gospel message here.

Guaranteed Appointments and Universit...

I see multiple parallels between the university faculty tenure package and the system of guaranteed appointments for itinerant clergy in The United Methodist Church.  In both cases, the path to that place of security is long and tortuous.  The supplicant must leap over tall buildings and navigate treacherous obstacle paths. He or she is subjected to multiple and often painful evaluations by groups of peers.  At some point, certain scholars are deemed ready to be awarded tenure, and certain clergy become Ordained Elders in Full Connection with the Annual Conference.  Unsuccessful candidates drop by the wayside, eventually, we hope, landing in fields that seem better suited to their gifts and talents.

The purpose of both procedures is to ensure freedom after such status has been achieved.  Scholars enjoy the freedom to do academic research, even if it means reaching unpopular conclusions.  Clergy embrace the freedom to minister and preach with prophetic voices, even if it means they are not especially popular with certain church members.  

Yes, we've all suffered under faculty who became lazy after tenure.  But they are few.  Most embrace their scholarly work with passion and love for their field, pushing boundaries, engaging their students, providing the best of the life of the mind.

Yes, we've also all suffered under clergy who became "ineffective" after ordination.  But they also are few.  Most have hearts that seek to beat in rhythm and harmony with the heartbeat of God.  This means calling out sin, courageously following Jesus to the cross, caring for the least of all creation.

Tenure is disappearing on many campuses now.  This is primarily an economic decision.  It is expensive to keep tenured faculty.  Guaranteed Appointment is getting ready to disappear.  It is expensive to maintain a group of clergy in full connection.

Sad as it is, I can understand money becoming God on university campuses. But money becoming God in a church situation?  How grievous.  There are other ways to deal with those clergy deemed "ineffective."  And I'm still waiting on a definition of ineffectiveness.

Effectiveness and Appointments

The buzz is everywhere for United Methodist Clergy:  a commission has declared that the day of the guaranteed appointment is done. Here's the report.

There's quite a bit of discussion about this on Facebook and I'm sure lots of other convesations as well.

The question:  what is an "effective" clergyperson?  How does someone decide who is and who isn't "effective?"  On first glance, this should be all that hard.  Surely an effective clergy person is one who leads his/her church into greater growth and ministry.  That would mean it all comes down to numbers:  the church that is getting larger, growing its budget and, most especially, paying all its apportionments on time, must, by definition, have an effective pastor.

The problem?  We as United Methodist Clergy, also agree upon ordination to be itinerant. In other words, we are supposed to serve where ever the Bishop and Cabinet decide is the best place to serve.  And some of these places of service have long histories of toxicity and/or decline, often for unforeseen demographic reasons.  It is possible to engage in transformational work at such places, but it is a years and years long process.  Short term measures like "how many people joined your church this year; is this  year's confirmation class larger than last years; how many small groups for children/youth/adults do you have?" will not honor the difficulties encountered by even the most dedicated, hard-working, intellectual, spiritual, organized, and gifted pastor. 

 Put the cream of the crop in a toxic church, or one where the numbers have been declining for years.  If the pastor survives at all, it may be 10 or 20 years before real change takes place.  Churches like that generally must decline before they can grow again.   Because of the nature of the itinerancy, toxic and declining churches tend to flip pastors quickly, removing all possibility of real, sustained movement toward health and vibrancy again.  

This is a very, very messy situation. 

Effectiveness and Appointments

The buzz is everywhere for United Methodist Clergy:  a commission has declared that the day of the guaranteed appointment is done. Here's the report.

There's quite a bit of discussion about this on Facebook and I'm sure lots of other convesations as well.

The question:  what is an "effective" clergyperson?  How does someone decide who is and who isn't "effective?"  On first glance, this should be all that hard.  Surely an effective clergy person is one who leads his/her church into greater growth and ministry.  That would mean it all comes down to numbers:  the church that is getting larger, growing its budget and, most especially, paying all its apportionments on time, must, by definition, have an effective pastor.

The problem?  We as United Methodist Clergy, also agree upon ordination to be itinerant. In other words, we are supposed to serve where ever the Bishop and Cabinet decide is the best place to serve.  And some of these places of service have long histories of toxicity and/or decline, often for unforeseen demographic reasons.  It is possible to engage in transformational work at such places, but it is a years and years long process.  Short term measures like "how many people joined your church this year; is this  year's confirmation class larger than last years; how many small groups for children/youth/adults do you have?" will not honor the difficulties encountered by even the most dedicated, hard-working, intellectual, spiritual, organized, and gifted pastor. 

 Put the cream of the crop in a toxic church, or one where the numbers have been declining for years.  If the pastor survives at all, it may be 10 or 20 years before real change takes place.  Churches like that generally must decline before they can grow again.   Because of the nature of the itinerancy, toxic and declining churches tend to flip pastors quickly, removing all possibility of real, sustained movement toward health and vibrancy again.  

This is a very, very messy situation. 

Gardening And Churching

This morning, Joe Emerson and I had an opportunity to tour the community garden at Denton Bible Church.  We started our own last spring when we moved into our new facility, and have big plans for the future for this.  The opportunity to see what someone else has done is priceless, and the organizer of it, local businessman, Gene Gumfroy, generously shared with us his experience, what he has learned, and offered some help as we get ours going.

I learned yet once more, as I have had to do many times, that nothing "just happens."  Certainly, there were some significant answers to prayer, particularly for them the donation of the land needed for the garden.  But good gardens only happen with a lot of work.

So do good churches.  Churches where people actively live out the "one another's" of the Christian faith--giving, serving, honoring one another, forgiving, bearing with, encouraging, admonishing, inviting, going to the cross, reproducing healthy, vibrant offspring . . . those kinds of places only come from hard, hard work, all carefully supported on the foundation of prayer and willingness to live by the mandate, "God's will be done."

I've spent many hours this spring as well in my own garden.  I look at the mistakes I've made there, the plants in the wrong places, some of which I'm going to have to dig up, the inadequately prepared ground in some areas, the seeds scattered that never came up, and the ones that came up nicely, but were quickly eaten by whatever interesting little critters inhabit the soil.  I also look at plants that are healthy, lovely, some already flowering, others starting to reproduce good things that nourish the body.

Yes, just like the church--the garden is an art form.  I can listen to the experts, learn from them, but I still have to create my own space, with the soil here, with my specific weather patterns.  

After we had toured the gardens and I ran an errand or two, I was heading home listening to This American Life on NPR.  Ira Glass had done a fascinating story on why it was that 10,000 NGO's in Haiti have been unable to do anything to raise the standard of living there.  Enormous obstacles arise over simple things that would help enormously.  The story is worth listening to and can be found here:  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/408/island-time.  It's Act One, 10,000 Brainiacs.  

In so many ways, this reminds me of the work of the church:  the obstacles to getting even one simple thing done can be huge.  Yet, we can do it.  We can stand firm against evil; we can work together even when we disagree on so much; we can say "yes" to God with the offer of salvation, both now and for eternity.  We can.  But we will never do so without huge challenges.  That's the nature of both churching and gardening and anything good that we set out to do.  It is only evil that comes easily, that "just happens."  

Reason Number 15

Do I think everyone should worship God regularly, i.e., at least weekly, with a group of unrelated people who come together for this express purpose?  Of course I do, just like my dental hygienist thinks everyone should floss every day and the local nutritionist thinks that everyone should eat healthy, not junk, food and the teacher of Russian literature thinks that everyone should read War and Peace, and the exercise guru thinks everyone should be walking 10,000 steps a day.  Each of these experts has good reasons for these mandates and also knows that many won't do these things, as helpful and important as they are.

But the mandate that seems to bring both the most guilt and the most creative reasons for NOT fulfilling it is the one about worshiping regularly, commonly spoken of as "going to church."

One morning recently, I found myself thinking of all the reasons I've heard, and used myself, over the years for not engaging in that important life discipline.  I decided to list them.  Within moments, I had written sixteen reasons for lack of church attendance.  Only one of them seemed reasonable, honest and legitimate.  The rest  . . . well, I've decided I'm going to write about them for the next 15 weeks.  While each excuse is different, there is this one commonality:  they all blame someone else for not being there.  It's never, ever our own fault.

So here we go.  Excuse Number 15:  "The church is full of snobs who are judging me."

First, let's look at the truth of this statement.  People do judge others and often for good reasons.  We observe and make snap decisions about those we see, and often name those people "unacceptable" or "unsafe" by means of those decisions.  This is human nature:  we leap these decisions because the need to do so is built into us for the sake of survival.  When meeting a stranger, our evolutionary response is, "Is this person friend or foe?"  So, let's not be too judgmental about the need to judge others.  It is a survival mechanism.  People without the capacity to be discerning about others live in real peril.  Not everyone is good. Not everyone can be trusted.  We need to be able to tell the difference, and there is not always time to thoroughly check out the other before making a decision about the next step.

However, many have heard the command from Jesus, "Judge not, lest you be judged."  Jesus speaks here of the kind of judgment that makes decisions only God gets to make.  This type of judgment condemns people to eternal separation from all that is good and holy--and no human being rightly holds that power.  Such judgment is in God's hands, and God's hands only.  

So, to get back to the excuse of the week:  what is really happening when someone says, "Church people are judging me," is that the speaker himself or herself is busy judging others, finding them unacceptable, and assumes that others are doing that in return.  In psychological language, this is called "projection."  We project upon others our own internal life and thoughts and assume such thoughts are also theirs. 

The more important question: "Why am I so sure that they are snobs and are judging me?  Could it be that I myself am a snob and am judging them?"  Remember, when making the assumption that they are guilty of such spiritual snobbery and ungraciousness, we have very much judged them and found them unacceptable.  So we have done to them the very thing you say we hate:  we ourselves are guilty of spiritual snobbery and ungraciousness, and then we wrap ourselves in a comfortable blanket of self-deception.

Excuse number 15 holds no water.  Attend worship.  Confess your sins.  Put down your judgments upon others and be incredibly surprised at how warmly you are welcomed. 

Less is More

I was on my hands and knees under some playground equipment looking with some amusement at the neatly arranged line of small rocks set up underneath it. We were getting ready to put a heavy layer of high quality mulch onto the church play yard and I wanted to make sure everything was ready. Because of a drainage problem, we'd been delayed doing this, but once the french drain was dug and working properly, the time had come.

What touched me about the neat row of rocks is that I knew those rocks had come from the newly laid french drain. Some children had picked them up, carried them to the equipment, and probably made up a story about them as they placed them in that row. A simple act of creatively flowing imagination, using the materials at hand.

There was no guided play there, no one telling them what to do or what the rules are or putting them in organized "rock lining up" leagues. No scheduled practices, no uniforms, no fees, no parents trying to figure out how to manage three practices and two games a week for several children and youth. No carefully selected, age-appropriate non-toxic toys, no impenetrable packaging to penetrate (as an aside here: I am convinced that the person who invented that clear heavy plastic packaging that takes sharp knives to open and which then leaves nasty edges to tear at exposed skin will at some point suffer torments in the seventh circle of hell), no assembly required, no trash cans to fill.

Less is so often more.

When my children were little and we took them on long car trips, I learned in time that the less I provided for them to do while confined in the automobile, the more creative they were with that time and their minds, and the more relaxed they were. When I felt that I had to make sure they were entertained every moment, the quarrels began, and the level of discontent rose exponentially.

Less was very much more.

Come with me on this analogy to the nature of church life itself. The "church" is at its best a group of people who gather to worship and praise God together--something done poorly, if at all, in isolation--make friends, teach their children the nature of real goodness and the reality of a holy God, and live out their salvation as they care for one another and joyfully invite others into a life of forgiven grace. The "less" in this scenario is the good news: "Christ died for us while we were still sinners. That proves God's love for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven." A simple sentence that opens to everyone willing to receive it the fullness of God-with-us life, both here and hereafter.

We've complicated it, added our rules and leagues, almost organized it out of existence, needed to tame it so that no one is really challenged by it, and packaged it in such a way that hardly anyone can actually get in. In many denominations, mine very much included, it takes so many years to ordination, years full of confusing, multiple and often contradictory requirements, that the only ones who make it are the somewhat obsessive-compulsive folk who just can't say "no" to the impossible challenge. With some churches, it becomes necessary to pass a litany of doctrinal hurdles in order to make sure only those in perfect agreement get a seat in the house. Meetings are conducted by Roberts Rules of Order and its multiple layers of motions, sub-motions, amendments to motions, and amendments to the amendments, as though such rules display the nature of God, rather than rich relationship that encourages us to honor one another.

The more layers we add, the less it is the church.

Personally, I'd like to halt this madness. I'd like to see creativity flow again with our children, and our relationship with God and one another become the rule of the church. Anyone with me on this one?

Less really is more.

Tough to be a Teen

Childhood has never been easy and parents always face complex tasks.  For most of history, it was important for families to produce as many children as possible in order to have an adequate labor pool.  Early years were rarely some sort of innocent time of play and joy, but were preparation to begin to work along adults as soon as possible. Children brought in the crops, cared for the animals, worked in sweatshops or did whatever else deemed necessary for survival of the family unit.

Even with a less agrarian world and lowered need for large families, childhood today looks like a minefield for many. Young girls in impoverished families are often married off early or sold into sex slavery.  Young men are forcibly conscripted into military service or find themselves with no options for employment and thus are consigned to lives on the margins of economic survival. In countries where a large percentage of adults have been afflicted with HIV, children are rearing their own younger brothers and sisters, and in conditions horrific to the pampered American eye.

That very pampering has led to a growing danger for our own more sophisticated and comfortable teens: an electronic world and record where there is no such thing as forgotten history, and where reputations can be shattered in an instant and never rebuilt.  Today's teens engage a world where one typical "pushing the boundaries" mistake can haunt them forever. The digital world never, ever forgets or forgives.  

The youth of my generation secretly read "adult-content" magazines by flashlights under the covers. The youth of this generation snap compromising photos of themselves or others and merrily send them to friends or post them on social networking sites.  What could be a fairly innocent exploration of their emerging sexuality--and if you think they don't explore it, you are living in a different world than I--can now blow up into a life-long albatross.  

One possible scenario:  an underage teen snaps a photo of his or her partially undressed body in a way that exposes private parts, sends it to a boyfriend or girlfriend (current terminology: "sexting") who is then, like it or not, in possession of child pornography.  That youth then sends it on to other friends, so he or she is not just in possession of it, but has become a distributor of it.  An adult:  parent, teacher, or pastor perhaps, receives it, and that person now also potentially faces being charged with possession of child pornography.  All in this scenario can be prosecuted and judged guilty of a felony offense. Should that happen, they have to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives, along facing with the possibility of prison time and all the other serious and endless ramifications of felony convictions.  AND, such photos exist in cyberspace forever. They may unexpectedly appear at inopportune times such as the journey to higher education, employment applications, housing decisions or anything else that might necessitate some sort of electronic search of a person's life and background.

Parents, engage in the sacred task of child-rearing with seriousness here. When you provide a cell phone for your offspring, you own that phone.  Contact your phone service provider immediately and arrange to monitor their text (and sext) messages.  You owe your children that protection.  When you make computers available to them, you own those computers.  Do not permit them to use them where they can work unmonitored by you.  Know their passwords to their email accounts and social networking sites and check those sites frequently.  Youth deserve that protection, however much they might argue with you about it.  Remember: teen brains are still developing. Impulse control almost doesn't exist and won't develop well for some years yet.  Be courageous.  Step up here.  This is serious.