Language is interesting. The words we use in subtle ways work to form the world we live in. For instance how many times as a Christian have you made the comment that you are "going to Church". We "christians" talk a lot about going to church, attending church, being faithful to church, and over time I believe we have come to connect the language of "going to church" with going to a physical location.
The result is often an unspoken understanding or belief that "church" is a location that believers attend. Over time and through repetition this use of language can create a world that sees the physical location where people gather as the central point of God's focus. Without realizing it we begin to live in a world that sees the location as being God's primary focus, not the people.
The problem is deeper than semantics. God doesn't meet people at "church". He has a mission. He has a cause that propelled him to come as a man and die on a cross. His purpose was not to redeem a brick and mortar building, but to cause life to spring from dry and thirsty souls. God meets people and transforms them into the church.
Life does not flow from a building. It flows through a people. We are the primary focus of God's love. The purpose of gathering at a specific location is simply to let that love flow. The next time we are asked where we have church perhaps we should respond wherever two or three are gathered in His name. We are the church, we are a part of the great cause/mission of God.
