{"id":41639,"date":"2015-01-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/"},"modified":"2015-01-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T00:00:00","slug":"malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Best-selling author Malcom Gladwell shared that while writing his latest book, <em class=\"citation\">David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants<\/em>, he went to Winnipeg to visit a woman named Wilma Derksen. Thirty years ago, the Derksens experienced every parent&#39;s worst nightmare&mdash;their daughter, Candace, was abducted and murdered.<\/p>\n\n<p>Gladwell was amazed by something that Wilma said at the time: &quot;We would like to know who the person or persons (who murdered Candace) are so we could share, hopefully, a love that seems to be missing in these people&#39;s lives.&quot; She continued, &quot;I can&#39;t say at this point I forgive this person,&quot; but as Gladwell noticed, &quot;the stress was on the phrase <em>at this point<\/em>.&quot; As he writes, &quot;I wanted to know where the Derksens found the strength to say these things &hellip; Where do two people find the power to forgive in a moment like that?&quot;<\/p>\n\n<p>The answer was their Christian faith. It&#39;s a power that Gladwell, who grew up in a Christian home, was familiar with but had gotten away from. As he put it, &quot;I have always believed in God. I have grasped the logic of the Christian faith. What I have had a hard time seeing is God&#39;s power.&quot; Sitting in Wilma Derksen&#39;s garden, he saw that power. He realized that &quot;the louder claims of material advantage&quot; and life&#39;s and the world&#39;s ideas about power had him looking in the wrong places. Seeing God&#39;s power in action led him to rediscover his Christian faith.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3402,3478,3499,3933,4010,4179,4460,4472,4671,4810,5202],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41639","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-agnosticism","tax_ctp_tags-belief","tax_ctp_tags-bitterness","tax_ctp_tags-faith","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-human-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-mercy","tax_ctp_tags-miracles","tax_ctp_tags-power-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-resentment","tax_ctp_tags-unbelief"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Best-selling author Malcom Gladwell shared that while writing his latest book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, he went to Winnipeg to visit a woman named Wilma Derksen. 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Gladwell was amazed by something that Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/\",\"name\":\"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/malcolm-gladwell-rediscovers-his-christian-roots\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Malcolm Gladwell Rediscovers His Christian Roots - CT Pastors","og_description":"Best-selling author Malcom Gladwell shared that while writing his latest book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, he went to Winnipeg to visit a woman named Wilma Derksen. 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