A Call to Holy Discernment

That picture of a pit bull dressed like a poodle got me laughing at first—but the more I sat with it, the more it started preaching to me. It’s funny because we know it’s a disguise. You can fluff it up all you want, but underneath, it’s still something completely different.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been preaching on the account of Jesus in the wilderness how Satan came to test Him at His weakest point. Each temptation wasn’t outrageous or obvious—it was subtle, twisted just enough to look like truth. That’s how the enemy works. And it’s had me thinking…

How many of us even as believers are being tested or deceived in similar ways and don’t even realize it?

Let’s not kid ourselves Satan doesn’t need to break down the doors of the church when he can just sneak in dressed as something spiritual, helpful, or even “Christian.” A pit bull in a poodle suit.

I’m not saying I’ve arrived. I’m not coming at this from a high horse. I’m coming at it from a hungry heart. I want to see the power of God return to the Church. I want to see the fire of the Holy Spirit purify what’s been dulled by compromise. But maybe we’re not experiencing that power because we’ve gotten way too comfortable with things God never asked us to tolerate.

We’ve allowed the occult into our homes and churches through entertainment, through false teachings, and even through seemingly harmless organizations like the Freemasons that carry spiritual baggage we haven’t discerned. We’ve played nice with things that oppose God and then wonder why our prayers feel powerless and our worship feels flat.

We’ve tolerated sin. We’ve embraced comfort. And we’ve lost the gift of discernment.

And here’s the thing: Discernment isn’t just knowing the difference between right and wrong. It’s knowing the difference between right and almost right.

The enemy didn’t tempt Jesus with something wild he tempted Him with Scripture. With comfort. With shortcuts. He dressed the lies in truth. That same playbook is still working today.

We’ve got influencers preaching self-help in the name of Jesus. We’ve got families watching spiritual darkness on Netflix and wondering why their kids are filled with anxiety. We’ve got churches more focused on performance than presence. And again I’m not pointing fingers. I’m examining my own heart too.

But I believe it’s time.

Time to repent.
Not out of shame, but out of hunger. Out of longing for more of God.

Time to confront compromise.
Call out the fake. Tear down the idols. Break the agreement we’ve made with cultural lies.

Time to ask God for discernment.
We need His eyes to see what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Church, we don’t need more hype. We need holiness.
We don’t need better branding. We need bold repentance.
We don’t need to look more “put together.” We need to be broken before God.

And that starts right now.

Let’s not just read this and nod our heads.

Let’s get on our knees tonight.
Let’s repent personally and corporately.
Let’s ask God to deliver us from anything we’ve let in that doesn’t belong.
Let’s really trust Him to set every captive free starting with us.

I’m believing for a move of God in our day. So let’s clean house. Let’s tear off the fluff. Let’s return to the feet of Jesus.