The phrase “follow the money” has become popular in our cultural conversations. The statement invites us to look deeper than the surface issues to discover the recipient of money who would gain advantage from its added resource. The problem occurs when we stop at the initial recipient thinking they are the primary target of our investigation. There are further steps to take that will require discernment to move deeper. If we don’t move deeper, we will direct all our prayer and activist efforts at only an intermediate target.

Money and its resulting wealth create the ability to wield power. The real power created by the unrighteous use of wealth is seen in its ability to influence the thinking of individuals, groups, and nations. People are steered toward a preferred outcome while they continue to fight against lesser and more visible intermediate enemies too easily seen and defined through undiscerning eyes. Perhaps this is one reason why we are invited by the Lord to have our minds renewed.

As I look out over society, and the Church, in particular, I don’t see a great deal of discernment. I see passion and activism, but these efforts are being directed at targets that are too obvious – the intermediate ones. These targets are only the first-level by-products of unrighteous wealth, not the source targets. It’s not politicians, corrupt political systems, or mega-rich social media moguls who are the actual manipulators of humanity. They are only tools. The real enemy of the good is the rarely discerned individuals or groups who are the puppets of dark puppet masters in the spiritual realm who manipulate human actors using the power derived from their wealth.

We need a revival of supernatural discernment. This discernment can become dangerous to those who carry its revelation because the knowledge possessed and the prayer they offer will unmask dark agendas causing demons to react. All stops will be pulled in an attempt to keep the numbing status quo in place. When we follow the money to its true source, we begin a journey that will take us past what is disclosed in the undiscerning marketplace of news broadcasts, YouTube videos, and our favorite social commentator.

Under the deceptive veil of that numbness is where the greatest advance of darkness takes place. Exposing and disrupting that agenda allows the Kingdom of God to have greater influence in the world because we are not wasting our efforts engaging in lesser issues. This is not a journey for the faint of heart. If taken it carries the greatest potential to change the trajectory of nations releasing the intended potential of the Great Commission.