I would say that where those who are filled, led and bearing the fruit of the Spirit of God are, where there are people who are sensing the mercy of God and experiencing the grace of God. Where people are not condemning themselves and projecting it onto others. Where loving kindness is genuinely expressed without strings attached.
This is what I noticed too…..people gravitate to an atmosphere that is loving, but not so ‘liberated‘ that there are no rules…..God is the one who from the beginning, started the human race off with his commands….he created rules to avoid chaos among his free willed children. When the rules are flouted, there might be an atmosphere of ‘love’ and ‘acceptance’…..but is there unity of thought and agreement about beliefs and practices in accord with Christ’s teachings? (1 Cor 1:10)
I've found it is becoming more likely when people meet informally eg. in the home or in the park. For me, when formality and structure governs our time together people tend to change and are tempted to perform a certain way that isn't always natural, or could I say, the natural fruit of the Spirit generating good questions and conversation can get stifled. But each to their own. We tend to be more that way inclined over here in Australia anyway.
As a fellow Aussie, I agree….we are a very secular country, and for those who do have a spiritual need, ‘freedom of thought’ is appealing. “She’ll be right” works for us because that is our nature…..but Christianity is not something that has to adapt to culture….culture has to adapt to Christianity, although it doesn’t have to lose its personality. We can be “Christ-like” in our worship as Jesus was. He taught people in synagogues, open areas, on the sea shore….anywhere the people gathered to hear him, so the ‘building‘ didn’t matter, or the location…what mattered was taking on board, and implementing his teachings in their everyday lives as a united body of believers. There were rules that had to be obeyed, and people were not free to put their own interpretation on those teachings, or to ignore the more difficult ones and make excuses for not including them.
Paul said that meeting together as a congregation was important and not to forsake it. (Heb 10:24-25) We are to
encourage one another in a world that promotes
discouragement about everything. It is ruled by God’s adversary, so we have to be vigilant so as not to be fooled into a false sense of security. (1 John 5:19; 1 Cor 10:12)
Then again, I'm not the right person to ask as I haven't been to a denominational or any other formal meeting in years. I meet with followers of Jesus most days, sometime multiple times a day. Almost everyone loves the time spent together eating, walking and plenty of talking. Nearly all comment that they find this the best times together where everyone gets to share their life in Christ freely without fear of being judged or condemned. It's great!
The Bible itself does not condone sectarianism, which is what divided Judaism. The minute you have those dividing the brotherhood over doctrine, you have fractured any unity that might have existed…..”I think” replaces “the Bible says”.….and what we “think“ has no place in Christianity….there are literally thousands of ‘thinkers’ who have drawn people off after themselves.
Paul warned…..
”I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, 30 and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:29-30)
So even back in the first century, the warning was there, and the devil knows that human nature does not change….he knows how to corrupt our thinking, so that even in the ‘freedom or liberation’ we can feel…there is still slavery.
Romans 6:16-18…
”Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
So having freedom, doesn’t mean being free of God’s law and the principles that form the basis for them.
God’s worship has always been “organized” in that there were always his qualified teachers and shepherds, appointed by him to feed his worshippers healthy spiritual food and guidance in their everyday lives. Jesus said we would have such teachers in the time of his imminent return as judge.…a slave to “feed” their fellow slaves….appointed by himself. (Matt 24:45) It wasn’t a buffet.
Were there appointed times for things to take place in Israel, in an orderly way? YES! Because Jehovah is a God of order, which makes for peace. (1 Cor 14:33) No one was left wondering what to do or when or how to do it…every single thing with regard to worship was prescribed by God himself, nothing was left for humans to decide because, just after liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt, the people decided to hold a festival to Jehovah, the God who had led them out of Egypt…..but they created a golden calf and called that their God. It displeased Jehovah so much that he sent Moses down from the mountain to deal with it. 3,000 idolater were slain because they chose to worship God their way. He never allowed them to do that again.
My days in any formal, organised setting are long gone. It's so liberating and edifying.
I too left the divided churches of Christendom, never to return, but the one thing I never did was try to find a God that suited what I wanted to believe….I wanted to find the God of the Bible and conform my way of life to
his standards rather than cherry picking scripture and misapplying it as I had seen so many do in their carving up of the Christ.
I looked for those who were “doing the will of God” even when it was very difficult to do so. Culture in many nations causes extreme hardship for those who want to serve the true God among those who are serving other gods, or those trying to fuse their Christianity with their indoctrinated patriotism.
In a secular country like Australia, I was looking for those who were not hypocrites…praising the “Prince of Peace” with one corner of their mouths, and supporting the bloodshed in war with the other. No Christian can be a “friend of the world” by supporting or condoning political violence, since it has no sanction from God. (James 4:4)
We are told to “be peaceable with all men” and to ‘love our enemies and to pray for them’. (Rom 12:17-21; Matt 5:43-44) We are to meet regularly with fellow believers, and we are to be united in our beliefs and practices, rejoicing in our global unity and feeling the hand of God in blessing all our activities.
It doesn’t mean that we are perfect because we are all sinners like everyone else, but we practice a very different “Christianity”…like chalk and cheese…like “wheat and weeds”. We are not part of Christendom’s divided “church” system, and hold very little in common with their beliefs or practices. Many of us have come out of that situation and found our spiritual home with those who are like minded, all over the world….a truly global brotherhood. It has been my home for over 50 years.