The word "Church" has had four different meanings to me so far. These definitions have been a mixture of nouns (names) and verbs (actions), and the latest two replace, for me, the earliest two... Sort of...
These different views on one word seem to stem from what you believe about spirituality, people, and what you believe the Bible says.
Noun 1: Church the Building
This is what most non-believers probably think of. A church is a building, a physical construction, a piece of architecture, maybe even just a historic artefact that is badly in need of repair. This view, of course, misses the fact that the christian church existed before buildings to contain it existed. So the shell has been mistaken for the organism. An easy, and understandable, mistake.
C. S. Lewis' book "The Screwtape Letters" suggests that from the view of a demonic being, this mistake could be a positive aid:
"One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate..."
Verb 1: Church Services
The action of a church service which you can take part in is the first kind of definition I applied to the word. I only skipped the first noun because, having been brought up in a christian family, I saw more songs on the inside than I saw stones on the outside.
Church is a meeting, then? Hmm. Possibly, except does it count as church when house/cell/small groups meet up in the middle of the week at someone's house? That's part of church... but it doesn't necesserily involve a structure, songs, liturgy, communion, or tea and coffee at the end. Yes it is possible for a small group to include these, but none of them are a requirement, or even necesserily an expectation.
So an organised, regular service- a set of actions that you either watch or join in with- doesn't encompass church.
Verb 2: Loving Community, Happening between Christians
This one seemed like a revelation and breath of fresh air. I love this definition. Even at something that happens by chance, with no organisation or minimum requirement, church is simply christians living with and loving other christians. God's community. I largely have my friend Tim to thank for helping me with the eureka moment on this one.
Noun 2: The Body and Bride of Christ
Both of these descriptions are what the New Testament refers to the Church as. As much as I love the second verb, the Bible is firmly in the realm of Nouns when talking about Church. (Probably because it finds different words to decsribe a loving community; not because it dismisses the action.) The Church is, as C. S. Lewis wrote as Screwtape, rooted in eternity, and like an army. A body of light, a living thing that belongs to God, a power that is promised to join fully with Jesus.
It's hard to pin this last one down, but it's the only one out of the four that the Bible definately and constantly means when it refers to the Church. You can find many weird and wonderful images and metaphors used in scripture.
My current belief is a mix of the second verb and second noun. In a tension typical of numerous parts of my faith, it is both a thing that has existed before me, and a lifestyle that I will try to put into practice to glorify God.
See another post about Church...
Image Source: http://www.turbophoto.com/Free-Stock-Images/People.htm
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