DNA groups are the primary vehicle for discipleship at Living Faith. A DNA group starts with just two people of the same gender and never grows past 4. The groups are intentionally small so that everyone can be heard, and no one can hide.
The three things a DNA group does are:
- Discover – sharing what we are learning from the Bible,
- Nurture – asking one another accountability questions to keep our hearts sensitive to the Lord,
- Act – praying for those in our community who are not in right relationship with the Lord.
As a group forms and gets to know each other they will likely develop a particular set of accountability questions that work for them. To facilitate a group getting started we provide a set of questions as a starting point in our DNA group brochure. They are as follows:
- How has your anger or fear or anxiety or addiction shown up this week? How does that reveal what you’re trusting in besides God?
- How have you wasted time?
- How have you felt yourself resisting obeying God this week: in your mission to the lost? In your sacrificial love for the community?
- In light of God’s love toward you, do you need to reconcile with somebody? Are you subconsciously holding a grudge?
- How have you battled sexual or intimacy temptation and how are you preparing to deal with it next week?
- How has the Holy Spirit been testing and growing you this week? Did you respond in faith or grumbling?
- Is anything (school, work, technology, etc.) isolating you from important relationships?
- __________________________ (Your personalized question)
You may notice that each of the above questions is open-ended. Most of them begin with the word, “how.” This can be a great starting point for most people. We have found that some of us need more direct questions to get our hearts engaged. Here is a list of accountability questions that are more direct:
- Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?
- Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate sexual thoughts about another person this week?
- Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?
- Have you been honoring, understanding, and generous in your important relationships this past week?
- Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind his/her back or face-to-face?
- Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.
- Have you continued to remain angry toward another?
- Have you secretly wished for another’s misfortune so that you might excel?
- Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it?
- Have you been completely honest with me?
Whichever list you use, remember that the goal is transparency, purity, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. We are not on a fault-finding mission. We are simply wanting to help one another walk uprightly with the Lord, sensitive to His Spirit, and powerfully engaged in His mission.