Christians Don't Need to Perform

You don't need to perform. PLUS: My last show before retirement, how approval leads to stress, and what part of your body God REALLY cares about.

I retired from acting at the ripe old age of 16.

And I went out with a bang!

In my last big performance, I played the star of the show. No, it’s not a production we’ve ever heard of, but just know my character’s name was in the title! This play was a particular challenge to me as an actor, as well as for the other actors, because of its unique setup. So it was the perfect “farewell tour” to kick off my retirement from the tumultuous life of an actor.

The production mimicked a real courtroom case. We were in a Blackbox theatre, and we actually flipped the stages so the actors were on the raised steps and the audience was down on the flat floor.

But with the entire production being a glimpse into a court case, and me being the defendant, accused of a crime, it meant all eyes were on me. All the time. Unlike a traditional production where you walk off the stage so the crew can set up a new scene—most of the actors were always on stage, and the stage never shifted. Besides the judge’s chair, I was pretty much the main focal point of the action. I had to be in acting mode the entire production.

The audience functioned as the “jury,” and they got to vote if I was guilty or not. There were three alternative endings depending on the outcome that we had to be ready with as soon as the results were read—a particularly interesting challenge!

Honestly, though, the biggest challenge was having to play a part with no breaks. Even without any lines, I had to continue the act. I played a stoic, serious guy—and that had to be me pretty much for two and a half hours straight each night! All eyes were on me. All the time.

Many of us experience that same feeling without ever having to be on a stage. Shakespeare said the “world is a stage,” and some of us take that way too literally. We become actors in the production of life, with little breaks. We play a part not just walking around in daily life with eyes on us—even random passersby becoming a non-consensual audience to our act—but also in the way that screens connect us to people even in the comfort of our own homes.

I sat on stage with my brows furrowed because I wanted to give the audience the illusion of seeing a real story play out. But too many of us play a part because we feel we have to, that society is expecting us to be someone else, or that our survival depends on blending in.

In a world that claims to love authenticity, many of us are faking it. Even our authenticity can be an act! We claim to be real… but we are only as real as we feel the world will let us.

I'd like to thank the Academy

But our pretend personas can too easily distract us from cultivating the heart that matters more than how we act when the world is watching.

Always Preforming

In today’s hyper-connected and always-online world, the pressure to keep up appearances is extra exhausting. We’re constantly performing, whether we realize it or not. If we step onto the digital stage, we become slaves to crafting the perfect post, picking the right filter, and jumping on the “right” bandwagons—abandoning our own values along the way.

It’s not just online. I’m sure you’ve heard someone give a pop culture or political opinion that made you cringe, but you decided to smile and nod anyway and say “Yeah, exactly.” I know I have. We just don’t want to rock the boat! Just play the part; look normal.

Seeking approval and image management isn’t just a modern struggle with social media filters and customizable options at your fingertips—it’s a deeply human issue that’s been around since Eden, since humanity thought to play dumb in front of God.

Israel’s history is filled with people who dressed up in the ways of foreign nations to fit in with their neighbors—all ending in disastrous results. Even religious leaders in Jesus’ day fell into this trap, loving the praise of people more than the praise of God (John 12:43). Approval became their god, and their faith became a show.

When we seek validation from others, we risk reshaping ourselves to fit expectations instead of truth. We adopt personas. We carefully edit our words. We show up not as our whole, honest selves, but as versions of who we think people want us to be. The fear of disapproval becomes a driving force in our lives, silently influencing our choices and values. We stay silent when we should speak. We act holy when we’re crumbling. We chase applause, not obedience.

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

—Proverbs 29:25

All that image-managing entraps us. Trying to keep up the act 24/7 is exhausting. It leaves us anxious, isolated, and unsure of who we even are anymore. The more we chase approval, the more we lose ourselves. Suddenly, our worth feels tied to whether people see us as smart enough, good enough, attractive enough, likable enough. We stop measuring success by integrity—and start measuring it by impressions.

And guess what? You never will be enough. If you are measuring your worth by external measures, I guarantee it, you will never measure up. You will fail. Because the bar will always keep moving just ahead of you.

Before we know it, this obsession becomes its own kind of religion. We don’t bow to golden calves anymore—we bow to approval, subtly opening one eye to make sure we can mimic bowing in just the way everyone else is doing it. We sacrifice peace and authenticity just to be seen in the “right” way. We’re constantly performing, always defending ourselves in the invisible court of public opinion.

And it’s not just exhausting—it’s straight-up idolatry. We say we follow Jesus, but we’re living for the crowd’s approval.

Like actors who never step offstage, we forget what it’s like to just be at peace. To be real. To be free.

It’s the Inside that Counts

Scripture speaks directly to the human tendency to seek approval and manage our image.

You peek into the Bible for even a few pages, and you’ll probably discover God is constantly doing things that don’t “look right” or play into people’s expectations. The nations do things in ONE WAY, but God does things in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY. Flipping expectations is God’s M.O. The barren have children. The younger becomes greater. The tiny one beats the giant.

The story of David is one such example. Samuel passes by all these tall, important sons of Jesse, and God tells him it’s actually the absent youngest who spends his day with sheep. God reminds Samuel:

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”

—1 Samuel 16:7

The heart is the one body part God actually cares about!

It’s not your résumé. Not your strength. Not even your chiseled jawline destined to get you into the running for People’s Sexiest Man Alive. None of these make you worthy.

It’s your heart.

God flips it all upside down.

Rest assured, while you will never get enough likes to be happy, that doesn’t even matter. What matters is whether or not your thoughts, actions, and emotions are primarily directed toward God or not. Those areas sum up your identity. While this identity might involve some “faking it until you make it,” and it certainly affects how you present to the world, it’s rooted much deeper inside your soul.

When we root our identity in Christ, we no longer have to perform or pretend. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We’re not defined by how others see us or the image we work so hard to maintain—we’re defined by Jesus. Under Christ’s management, we’re made new, not just cleaned up but completely transformed. We don’t need to chase approval because we’ve already been fully accepted. Our worth isn’t earned—it’s given. In Christ, we can finally stop acting and finally start living.

The origin of my nickname

At some point in our lives, we must ask and answer the question: “Who am I?” It is an unavoidable question for anyone who breathes.

And the answer should not be shaped by what the world wants, but by what the Holy Spirit is already doing in you if you are in the family of God.

You can rest. You can let your guard down. You don’t have to play the part anymore. You can leave the stage. We have freedom in Christ to cast off societal expectations and desire for approval, and just be ourselves—shaped by God’s standards and not anyone else’s.

Life Updates

• I’ll be offering some podcast managment and podcast guest booking services soon. Stay tuned!

The inside is what counts,

Jake Doberenz

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