What is a modal Christian? Do they give to the poor? Do they care for the sick? Do they go to church every Sunday? Do they volunteer? Do they care for their family? Is there a person that you can point to? The Pastor, a Deacon, an active community member? I’ve known a fair number if people that I would describe as modal Christians. They were people that I looked up to. I aspired to have the same walk with God that they had, but there was something that I came to realize in my own walk – that no one’s perfect. In fact, even those who do wonderful things for God, can do equally terrible things while outside God’s influence.

I’m in the middle of the bible study, “The Armor of God” by Priscilla Shirer. One thing that I found really interesting, was the notion that our daily battles are not with people around us, but that our daily battle is with the devil. When I heard that, I had a problem understanding it at first, until I looked at it from the perspective that the Devil can work through people – through their decisions and actions. What struck me about this is that the devil can work through me and other Christians, even after we’ve chosen to follow God.

I am weak and vulnerable to negative influences. I could build up a facade that paints me as the perfect Christian – if I really worked at it – but without prayer, I’m still exposed – to being attacked and to being the attacker.  This makes me think about the recent events in California with the abused 13 children, and how their grandmother described her daughter and son-in-law as “Modal Christians.” My first thought was, “uh – obviously they’re not.” But then I thought, who of us really are? I firmly believe that their actions did not come from God’s directives, but who can say that if we stood alone without God’s guidance, we would not be capable of similar evils?

This is why daily prayer and a church community are so important. When I speak with God, in addition to peer guidance,  I get peace and direction, but also warnings about behavior and actions that can be harmful to others. Saying that we could follow God without speaking to him, is like saying that all employees could reach all goals and responsibilities in a job role by merely reading their company’s vision statement. It takes a lot of communication and goal setting for a company to reach its goals. Likewise, it takes daily communication with God and a community of other Christians to know the plan set for us. As making time for daily prayer is something that I battle with, I pray for myself and for anyone else in a similar dilemma to have drive to make time for God everyday. It doesn’t matter who you are. Without that, we are lost.