If a person let you in on some gossip that you knew wasn't true, would you repeat it to others? Probably not. As Christians, we are striving to obey God's commandments in every situation. We know that Scripture warns us against spreading gossip or speaking lies. Yet modern communication methods are putting a new wrinkle in this, and making it harder to know what is true and what is not.

In this information age, we can instantly communicate with our family, brethren, friends and colleagues through e-mail. Many of us use e-mail to share heartening stories, keep in touch with others and pass along prayer requests on a moment's notice.

In the course of this instant and far-reaching communication medium, we might have received a few forwarded e-mails from Church members about shocking news items, missing persons, ways to make quick money or supposed truths behind various situations on the world scene. The problem is, most of these forwarded e-mails are not true. Fact-finding Web sites call them hoaxes, scams, urban legends or, in other words, lies.

Take for instance, a few of these forwarded e-lies I have received lately: "Madeline Murray O'Hare getting 'Touched by an Angel' taken off the air," former Vice President Al Gore misquoting Scripture, get rich from a chain letter, Amber Alert: "Help Find 9-Year-Old Penny Brown," "HIV-Infected Needles in the Handles of Gas Pumps in Florida" (or other states), "Forward an E-Mail for Disney and Microsoft and Win a Chance for Money or Travel," "Forward E-Mails to Help Provide Financial Support for Cancer Victim Amy Bruce" (various names have been used) and so the e-lies go.

Have you ever wondered about the truth of these types of e-mails yet felt guilty if you didn't forward them, especially the humanitarian e-mails such as finding a missing child? I have. Yet I recently took a moment to check the validity of an e-mail at a search engine. Using the Internet, you can quickly uncover the truth or fiction of these legendary e-mail forwards.

One of the most useful sites I have discovered is www.truthorfiction.com. Launched by a talk radio host who has been researching Christian urban legends for years, the site is devoted to uncovering whether "rumors, inspirational stories, virus warnings, humorous tales, pleas for help, urban legends, prayer requests and calls to action are truth or fiction." Another good site is www.scambusters.org. You can often find helpful information as well by searching on the topic at www.google.com.

Not all forwarded e-mails are hoaxes. You may receive some "e-rumors" that are true, such as "Iraqi Statue Honoring American Soldiers." An article in ARNEWS, the Army news service, reported this story. Unfortunately, however, many forwarded stories are false and we should therefore strive to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" in this increasingly deceptive world.

In the past, we may have forwarded these types of e-mails to help, inspire or inform our brethren. That is very understandable. However, with the online resources at our disposal, perhaps we can seek out the truth before we forward. As Paul says in Ephesians 4:15: "Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church" (New Living Translation).