Fruit of the Spirit

Rating:
Summary: Rice Cakes for the Spirit
Review: Yes, Bill Hybels is a giant in American Evangelism and a powerful advocate of the pragmatic and effective seeker-sensitive approach. However, this modest book illustrates what happens when the watered-down, non-threatening approach meets the written word medium-- not much there.

The chapter exercises are of appropriate length for a 90-120 minute small group session, and each focuses on different aspects of human attitudes and behavior, and offers points of reflection, and ample space for a reader to scawl on the page answers to the self-reflective questions. The relevant verses cited for reference and biblical passages and anecdotes seem well-chosen.

My disappointment in the book lies in what others may actually find as a strength-- it's simplicity. At times, the reflection questions seem geared toward the a child in Sunday-school. The importance of cultivating all these fruits (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Sensitivity, and Faithfulness) are so self-evident that the material became tedious after a time. After a small group session using this book, I felt like I did after I once ate a rice cake. I guess I was eating something-- my jaw moved, my teeth mashed some organic matter, yet it didn't really fill me up intellectually.

This series seems fine for most people, and the points are certainly theologically spot-on and in accord with how God would want us to be, but I would have liked to see something a little deeper.