the intersection of life and grace

Following months of deliberation by the Federal Trade Commission and rumors throughout the social media marketing world, the FTC this week released it’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” to much buzz.  And, a little panic, I think, for bloggers, twitterers and facebookers who like to talk about their favorite goods and services, wondering what this all might mean for them.

It’s an 81-page document, in rather complex legal-governmental language.  You can read it by clicking here if you like [opens PDF document in a new window].

First, because I’ve fielded a few questions about this from the reviewers I work with on content for clients, I want to define what the new regulations say about bloggers – as I understand it. Disclaimer:  I’m not a lawyer, this isn’t legal advice, and if I learn something new about it, I’ll update this post.

Disclosure

If a company gives you product or money or any other kind of award or compensation in return for your posting about them or their product on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or any other social networking site, you (the blogger) need to say so clearly.  The consequence for not doing so includes potentially hefty fines, but the report does not delineate what to expect for certain infractions, nor how specifically it will be enforced.

Now, if you review books, resources or music for another outlet, such as YMX, and repost your work on your blog with link attribution (as that site has permitted), you need only be clear that you were given the resource to review for that outlet.  It is pretty clear that product is given to media outlets to review, and you’re (in the case of YMX) reprinting with permission with link attribution.  If you link to your work on another commercial site from your  personal Twitter/Facebook, etc, it seems clear to me that you got something in return for the work (product or  some other consideration).

If you are an affiliate marketer – say for amazon, or referral link prizes, and the like – you need to say so under these new rules.  If you make money on it, you need to say so more clearly than ever.  Here is a good overview of the new guidelines from the corporate marketing point of view.

About this blog

Most reviews on this blog are reprints of my work for hire, primarily at YS/YMX. Those include links back to the original publication page.

A few times publishers or companies have given me books to review, or something to give away. While it was clear enough at the time, I will be more specific about that going forward.  I have never been paid cash for any post on this blog, or anything I’ve posted on my personal social networking accounts.  I intend to add a disclosure page to this blog to acknowledge affiliate relationships so there is no confusion.

All very formal, but I have no problem disclosing this if it prevents confusion on the part of others. Clarity is good, and assuring readers that my thoughts and opinions are my own even if I got a free book is something I’m happy to do.  It’s necessary to help people who research purchases on the internet tell the difference between advertising and customer opinion, because the line had become blurry. Ethics are important.

Now, if we could just get the same kind of clear public disclosure from politicians and lobbyists, I’d be thrilled.

Believers, Christ-followers of any denominational and doctrinal stripe – I’m talking to you. And me.  Stop it. The whining.  The complaining.  Really.  Before you speak, or type, another word about:

• a devotional practice or church tradition you have never participated in and therefore believe it must be specifically prohibited by scripture
• a politician or government policy, or the President, with clearly ill-considered sarcasm and disrespect  and nary an ounce of constructive thought (much less action)
• you get the idea, right?

I see a lot of facebook status updates (and their attendant comments), and twitter updates, and blog comments, and forum comments over the course of a week.  I have to say, a lot of them are whining or complaining.  The rest are fine – running commentary on life.

I’m only talking about the sort that fling sarcastic, unhappy criticism out into the cyber world and are never followed up with contstructive action thereafter.  Think – there are a lot of people who can see what you’ve said on the internet, people who may not be your direct “friends” on a particular social network.  They may not all be as smart, enlightened, mature, or skilled in discerning satire as are you.  And, in the written word, that discernment is mighty difficult because 85% of communication is non-verbal.  Words are evocative, and 100% open to interpretation.  [Public service announcement pause to tell you that I am completely calm, not angry, and not kidding about the subject of this post.]

Therefore, before you or I type another sarcastic, caustic, crushing word on your blog,  a disucssion forum, facebook or twitter status… stop.  Are you representing Christ accurately? Are you doing more than throwing words into air?  If not, why not?

What do the scriptures say about tearing each other down?

How about tearing down those who do not believe?

Maybe, even if you don’t practice the penitential season of Lent, you could just try, for the next 7 weeks, to:

“[S]et an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” [1 Timothy 4:12b-16]

And:

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” [Galatians 5:13-15]

We can communicate more clearly, more effectively, if we first heeding Paul’s teaching about his message (that of Christ) to the Corinthians in written and personally-spoken form:

“You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present” [2 Corinthians 10:7-11]

Don’t hide behind your computer screen if you aren’t going to act on the words in real life.

As sometimes happens during the day, I was chatting on instant messenger about youth ministry with Adam yesterday.  We were talking about a mutual interest, something he was planning out a blog post on – discipleship.  As the conversation rambled around some ideas, my interest was grabbed by a particular facet (or tangent, lol) about the same time as Adam updated his twitter account.  The following exchange grew from there (non-twitter users should keep in mind that twitter is a timeline of posts in which @ means ‘reply to’; I’ve tried to arrange them in a more conversational order):

mclanea Have a fun theology of discipleship conversation with @pattigibbons. Booyah!   about 23 hours ago from web

MarkMatlock @pattigibbons I’ll take you up on that conversation! Got some notes to share?
about 23 hours ago from web in reply to pattigibbons

mclanea @MarkMatlock I took notes. I’m working on a video post for my blog. @pattigibbons totally just schooled my hypothesis!  about 23 hours ago from web in reply to MarkMatlock

pattigibbons @MarkMatlock we’re hunting for the place where the disciple car got disconnected from family and hooked up to church   about 23 hours ago from web  in reply to MarkMatlock

CoffeeWithChris @pattigibbons hmmm, what are you thinking? I was on the Industrial Revolution & start of Sunday school track?   about 23 hours ago from web  in reply to pattigibbons

pattigibbons @CoffeeWithChris I think that’s a spot, but it may go back even further   about 23 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

pattigibbons @CoffeeWithChris I think that’s an important spot, and the most contemporary, but I’m wondering about the days of church as primary educator   about 22 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

CoffeeWithChris @pattigibbons just went and talked to one of the other pastors on staff here, first place he went to was Constantine & the Empire…   about 23 hours ago from web  in reply to pattigibbons

pattigibbons @CoffeeWithChris I’d have to hear more to blame Constantine for this one (he did plenty, but I’m not sure originated this disconnect)   about 22 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

MarkMatlock @CoffeeWithChris My feeling is that the church is putting the blame for it’s failure on parents without offering much in the way of example.   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

MarkMatlock @pattigibbons Hmmm..the Great Commission wasn’t given to families. The call was for disciples to make disciples. I’d love your thoughts.   about 22 hours ago from web  in reply to pattigibbons

CoffeeWithChris @MarkMatlock true but that doesn’t imply the institutional church either, right? Deuteronomy says for parents to teach their children…   about 22 hours ago from web  in reply to MarkMatlock

pattigibbons @MarkMatlock if parents are disciples, and if the OT instr to teach your children are both in effect, there should be cooperation on that   about 21 hours ago from web  in reply to MarkMatlock

MarkMatlock @coffeewithchris @pattigibbons I’m just shooting from the hip here btw. I like this conversation.   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

MarkMatlock @pattigibbons I do agree with you, but feel the real problem came when we separated disciple making and evangelism.   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to pattigibbons

pattigibbons @MarkMatlock we agree on that as well. I’m of the strong opinion that the best evangelism is Christians being truly Christian in real life.   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to MarkMatlock

MarkMatlock @CoffeeWithChris I agree, but the OT context is specific under a theocratic culture. Still relevant, but church has responsibility.   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to CoffeeWithChris

CoffeeWithChris @MarkMatlock totally agree, it has to be “both/and” instead of “either/or”   about 19 hours ago from web  in reply to MarkMatlock

So, a little theological discussion 140 characters at a time, and it’s still on my mind! Do you have ideas about discipleship, the family and the church? Would love to hear it, and the comments here accept more than 140 characters!  Please feel free to chime in.

Adam posted his thoughts about discipleship in youth ministry in a video called Open Ended Discipleship [click here to go to that post].  A different facet of the conversation, but an important related question for youth ministry.

I arrived in Pittsburgh yesterday for the National Youth Workers Convention, as part of the team who will be bringing you live blogging – including photos, audio and video clips – from all the general sessions and many seminars throughout the event. You can keep up with all the happenings by going to nywc.com/live (pittsburgh archive), where you can interact with us while we blog in real time, and also see a feed of blogs and twitter updates (here are mine) from the folks at the convention.

Because I arrived early, I had the opportunity to hang around with some very interesting people who’s names I knew but I’d never met in person, to talk about youth ministry and the projects close to each of our hearts. There are some very cool things coming down the road, all with the absolute intention of serving youth ministers as they serve teenagers in Jesus’ name. It was an invigorating time, and hopefully the first of many such interactions.

In a little bit, I’m heading over to the convention center to check in, find a few of my YMX people and then head into the Real World Parents presenter training. I’m very much looking forward to getting to interact with the material, and meet even more people!

If you’re a youth worker and you use twitter, like I am, there are a few special-to-ym twitterers I’ve added, and thought you might want to follow, too.

Youth Specialties: http://twitter.com/ys_scoop
Simply Youth Ministry: http://twitter.com/simplyinsider
Lifeway: http://twitter.com/studentministry
Youth Ministry Exchange: http://twitter.com/ymx
PlanetWisdom: http://twitter.com/planetwisdom
YouthMinistry.com: http://twitter.com/youthministry
Youth Ministry TV: http://twitter.com/YMTV

Have you found others that are specifically youth ministry related? Share them in the comments. If you use twitter, add me or let me know, I’d love to add you.

Not sure what twitter is? Watch the video below for some help.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o]