I was a member here, and its church plant, for over 10 years from my senior year in college to…read moreseveral years afterward, from 2005-2016.
What immediately strikes you is the seriousness of the attitudes of the members here -- they are not here to play and they take the Bible very seriously. Within this church body a strong view of Lordship salvation -- which is church-speak for honoring Jesus as your Lord and Master, not just your "homeboy" or Savior, or genie in a bottle -- quite refreshing.
I think the outcomes of this church are a mix of the individual, the church teaching, and the culture and influence of members of this church.
My current view is that salvation (justification, sanctification, and future glorification) is completely the work of God, and not of man. I have seen Christians of all shapes and sizes come through this ministry and become essentially more of what they were, previously. e.g. Big-hearted Christians became even bigger-hearted; immature Christians became slightly less immature individuals with their problems masked by changed behaviors, but unchanged hearts.
Pros:
- Biblical teaching, expositional preaching, good doctrine, high view of God's word, conservative views
- "Truth"-heavy
- A lot of equipping. An inside joke, when the church was still called "Eastbay Baptist/Bible Church of Berkeley," was "The Eastbay Seminary." The Sunday school and equipping classes I've taken: Evangelism Training 1, Evangelism Training 2 (Apologetics), Biblical Hermeneutics, Old Testament Survey
Cons:
- More could be done to help build up well-rounded Christians.
- Culture is too "inward" focused -- members tend to neglect relationships with family, non-Christian friends, coworkers, etc.
- Can be "hyper-fundamental" at times. Things that are not explicitly sins in the Bible are viewed and treated as if they were actual sins.
- Where is the grace? Tendency to be big-headed, small-hearted.
- Lack of cultural diversity
- Lack of age diversity
- Tendency to produce behavior change (through peer pressure), rather than heart change (only possible by work of Holy Spirit)
On the positive side, most of the members of this church body have a genuine desire to pursue holiness and Christ-likeness -- "Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). However, because of the overall youthfulness and immaturity of certain individuals, and the proclivity for group-think, there is a tendency of a version of stoicism and monasticism (denying oneself of worldly pleasures) to be erroneously praised as a virtue among its members in their good-intentioned pursuit of holiness--which is still missing the mark.
I would encourage all to be Bereans and study Scripture for themselves. I received a lot of great teaching from this church and learned the tools to help study the Bible for myself. However, there were certain experiences that I went through during my time here that were also heart-wrenching. While I have been encouraged greatly and grew tremendously as a Christian during my time here, I also experienced a lot of deeply painful experiences that are still with me today, and on some days, those painful memories are more vivid than the positive ones.
I think Revelation 2:1-7 is a very good, spot-on description of this church when I was a member there:
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'"
In a culture where the prevailing attitude is anti-God and overwhelmingly secular, this church is a God-send and refuge from the storm. For conservative believers, it feels like the members of this body are the "7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:18).
However, I would exhort this church to excel still more, and to try and find ways to have a refreshing and positive impact to its surrounding and greater community.
Remember the two greatest commandments:
1. Love the LORD your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. (No, not just your fellow church member.)