Small Groups: Model Authentic Sharing

A practical way to help your group members open up.

The best thing you can do to encourage honesty in your group is to be honest yourself. This doesn't mean spilling your guts about your darkest secrets. Instead, it means asking for prayer in an area of your life where you're genuinely struggling, letting go of the myth that leaders need to appear perfect, and being genuine in your responses to questions.

A great activity that allows you to model genuine sharing and encourage group honesty is having each member share five people, circumstances, events, or places that have left lasting impressions on them, making them who they are today. Because some people have trouble talking about themselves so openly, you can use this visual aid: Have group members trace their hands on a piece of paper. Then have them come up with one person, circumstance, or event per finger. After group members write or draw thoughts, words, or pictures, they can explain their drawings to the group.

If some group members think the visual aid is too cute, that's okay. Different temperaments like different things. The point is to share key influences from their lives, with or without the visual aid. Read more