The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson
Week 5: Chapter 5 — Nicky Cruz
Read Chapter 5 of The Cross and the Switchblade.
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Nicky Cruz — the feared war lord of the Mau Maus — is the most dangerous person Wilkerson has encountered, and also, as it turns out, the one whose story will become the most powerful testimony to the transforming grace of God in the entire book.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Nicky Cruz is introduced as one of the most feared gang leaders in New York City — violent, cold, and contemptuous of anyone who tries to reach him. Yet Wilkerson walks directly toward him. What is it that enables Wilkerson to approach someone like Nicky without flinching?
2.When Nicky threatens to kill Wilkerson, Wilkerson famously responds: 'You could do that. You could cut me up into a thousand pieces and lay them out in the street, and every piece would love you.' This is one of the most memorable lines in the book.
a.What is the source of that kind of fearlessness? Is it natural personality, trained discipline, or something else?
b.How does that response disarm Nicky in a way that argument or authority never could have?
3.Nicky Cruz's background — including a childhood in Puerto Rico marked by rejection and abuse — is part of what shaped him into who he became. How does learning someone's story change the way we see their behavior, without absolving them of responsibility for it?
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