The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson
Week 1: Introduction — A Still, Small Voice
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Every great story of faith begins with an ordinary person hearing something unexpected from God. As you read the opening of Wilkerson's story, pay attention to what it actually looks and feels like when God breaks into a quiet, routine life.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Wilkerson describes himself at the start of the book as a small-town preacher with a tiny congregation in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania — far removed from the world of New York City street gangs. What does this 'ordinariness' of his starting point say about how God tends to choose the people He calls?
2.The moment that launches the entire story is Wilkerson staying up late one night and coming across a *Life* magazine article about seven teenage boys on trial for the murder of Michael Farmer in New York City. He is arrested by the faces of the defendants in the photographs.
a.What do you think it means that Wilkerson felt compelled by a magazine photo rather than a dramatic vision or an audible voice? Does that make the call feel more or less credible to you?
b.Have you ever had a moment — through something as ordinary as a news story, a conversation, or a photograph — where you sensed God trying to get your attention? What did you do with it?
3.Wilkerson's first response to this sense of calling is not triumphant confidence — it is confusion and even resistance. He questions whether the feeling is from God at all. Why do you think genuine calls from God so often come wrapped in uncertainty and doubt rather than clarity?
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