Chat often provides a safe environment for participants to share from their heart and great opportunities for chat hosts or moderators to share Christ with seeking or hurting people. There are times that we may encounter a person who shares a story that seems far fetched and we feel that we should seek out the truth. Here are some suggestions on how to handle these types of situations in the chat room:

• Continually pray for discernment, ask the the Holy Spirit to give you God’s heart and grace and to handle the chat participant with wisdom and mercy. Ask God to reveal the truth of the situation and how you can minister to this person most effectively.
• Keep in mind that the purpose of Truthmedia chat rooms is to share the message of God’s love and forgiveness and to show God’s grace. At all times we want to glorify God with our words and create an atmosphere in the chat room where the Holy Spirit can work in hearts.
• Be aware that people come to the internet because it is a safe place to be anonymous and share more openly. This openness can offer a safe arena for people to talk about secret struggles, shameful pasts, or present challenges that they want help with. People are more willing to openly share secrets with this type of an audience rather than in a church or real life situation, so don’t discount the stories that are told. However it can also offer an environment where people can push the boundaries on truth and speak falsely.
• As we pray for God to bring seekers to these chat rooms for ministry, we need to walk in faith and believe that every chat participant who enters the room has come because of a divine appointment. As the chatter shares their story, listen to the words with Holy Spirit directed discernment and grace. Show compassion to each chat participant and treat them as Jesus would. If the discussion seems very far fetched, then simply and graciously ask for some clarification. Harsh questioning or doubting could build walls and interrupt any chance of ministry. Remember always to ask God to help you build an atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to work in hearts.
• If you sense God telling you that the chat participant is seeking attention by using a false or stretched story, then graciously direct the conversation to other participants in the room and change the topic. This can be handled with transition statements like, “ Let’s move onto another person’s story….” or “ Does anyone else have something to share with the group?”

Ultimately God is in control of the chat room and He is faithful to do His work!

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us, yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90: 17

Read more about chat ministry.