Ask Jesus: Discernment in Community

When a new follower of Jesus asks what to do about peyote ceremonies, Erik Fish declines to become his moral arbiter. He tells him to ask Jesus—and trusts that Jesus will answer. That story from chapters 9–12 of Turtle Island opens Ernest Prabhakar and Robby Butler’s conversation about spiritual authority, self-deception, and discernment. If leaders refuse to act as the Holy Spirit for others, what keeps “ask Jesus” from becoming permission to baptize personal preference? Their answer begins with relationally dense community: Scripture read together, fruit made visible over time, and lives close enough to bear one another’s burdens. The discussion moves from peyote to a funeral where traditional practices, Christian faith, grief, and family loyalties share the same space. Ernest and Robby reflect on the security required to honor a culture without either denouncing or absorbing everything within it—and ask what equivalent practices in their own worlds need to be brought into the presence of Jesus. In this episode Trusting Jesus to lead people without taking his place Peyote, spiritual longing, and personal conviction Scripture, community, and fruit as safeguards for discernment Why small, relationally dense gatherings make real accountability possible Multiplication rather than congregational enlargement Honoring culture amid grief without displacing Jesus from the center Technology as a possible vehicle for transcendence—and a possible idol Content note: This episode includes discussion of peyote, death, funeral rites, grief, and religious conflict. A personal book-club conversation about Turtle Island by Erik Fish; not affiliated with the author or publisher.