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Scripture for this chapter
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one shall lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 KJV
At a glance
A community forms as residents begin to look out for one another, not just for themselves.
Shared testimony among residents reinforces individual transformation.
UECF.NET summary
This chapter highlights a shift from individual rescue to genuine community: residents at the center begin encouraging, correcting, and supporting one another, sometimes more effectively than staff could alone. Peer relationships — an older resident mentoring a newer one, shared testimony in group settings — become a visible part of how change spreads.
Wilkerson frames this as evidence that the ministry is becoming self-sustaining in a healthy sense: not dependent on any one leader's constant presence, but rooted in a community that carries the mission forward together.
Key points
- Peer mentorship among residents becomes a significant, and sometimes underappreciated, engine of change.
- The chapter marks a shift from a leader-centered rescue mission to a genuine community.
- Shared testimony among residents reinforces individual transformation.
Related Scripture
For reflection and discussion
- Who has played the role of an “older resident” in your own spiritual growth — mentoring you from further down the same road?
- Why might peer community sometimes reach someone more effectively than a leader or outsider can?
- What would it look like for your own faith community to depend less on one leader and more on mutual care?
This page is an original UECF.NET study companion. It does not reproduce any text from The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson (with John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill), which remains under copyright. Read the full chapter in a legally available edition of the book — see Further Reading & Legal Editions — or borrow the original 1963 edition via Internet Archive’s Open Library controlled digital lending.