What do you mean by the word church?

Michael Spencer's recent post, Jesus - Yes; Church - No? Maybe, is a very worthwhile read.

As the first comment says, how you answer that question ("Jesus, yes; the church, no?") will depend in part on what you mean by that enigmatic term, church.

Very few people of my acquaintance these days (ever since I wandered off the Lutheran reservation) would say their loyalty is too a denomination, a pastor, or a building. But in practice that's sure how it looks.

Thinking back to this recent post, I should emphasize that it's easier by far to limit your understanding of church to a particular meeting in a particular place where they sit beneath the teaching of a particular preacher, etc., than to think of church as a network of relationships between believers who are seeking to live out the "one-anothers" of the New Testament.

It is easy enough to order your sense of spiritual well-being around church-attendance when church is uniquely a Sunday morning experience, but the challenge is to be the church every day in all and sundry places. The first commenter over at Michael's post says it this way:

I have often times said “Jesus – Yes; Church – No” simply because Church was not the brother or sister sitting next to me, but the legalistic expectations devised by those of influence. (If you’re a Baptist, there are certain things that you, as a good Baptist should do). Now I understand that it is my fellow Christians, whoever and whever they are, who are the church and to that I say, “Jesus – Yes; Church – Yes.”