What is church?

Someone asked me just a few hours ago if it's alright to not attend church, stay home, watch a couple of Christian preachers on TV, and pay tithe to a chosen Christian organization.

To answer the first part of this question, we need to redefine "church." What is church?

Jesus said, in Mt 18:20 (GWT):

Where two or three have come together in my name, I am there among them.

He also said in Mt 16:18 (GWT):

... on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not overpower it.

There's only one church that Jesus built and continues to build. Nothing in this universe, physical or spiritual, can ever destroy his church. The church is not physical (such that it can be destroyed). Hence, it is not a building that can be destroyed by fire, nor an organization or corporation that can be disbanded or dissolved. Church is not the worship service or mass or even the time set aside for corporate gathering that can be called off due to inclement weather or emergencies.

Church is US. We, who believe in Christ and follow him and have received the Holy Spirit and continue to walk in the Spirit, are the church. Where two or three of us gather together as Christ's followers, Jesus is there in the Spirit. He inhabits us because we are his Temple.

Church is a group of people, not a place or event. It is not even a registered organization.

Thus, when two or three of us gather, we don't have to gather in a holy place. We are the Holy Temple. We don't have to meet at a holy time. We are forever in communion with Christ, now "seated...with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:5 –Eph 2:6, NRSV).

Yes, you don't have to go to church because you ARE the Church. You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You are part of his spiritual Temple, the New Temple. But you must obey Christ's command to love one another.