Breaking the Performance Paradigm: Finding the Biblical Jesus Outside the Four Walls

 Break the Performance Paradigm

I’ve been feeling it lately—that heavy, pressing weight of corporate paradigms. You know the feeling, don't you? It’s that nagging sensation that something is "off" in the way we "do church." You sit in a padded pew, the lights go down, the professional-grade haze machine starts up, and for the next hour, you are a spectator at a high-production performance. We’ve traded the upper room for the green room, and the altar for a stage.

Sometimes, I just have to get these things out of my system. If you’ve followed my journey at ConradRocks.net, you know that my passion is for people to have a raw, supernatural relationship with the biblical Jesus. But lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m in a cave, much like the prophet Elijah. I’m at my wit’s end, watching the church operate more like a theater than a hospital or a lighthouse.

The problem is that we’ve been hypnotized by a paradigm of self-exaltation. We’ve built kingdoms of "Me" and called it ministry. The agitation you feel—that restlessness in your spirit—isn't just a bad mood. It’s the Holy Spirit calling you out of the cave. In this post, I want to pull back the curtain on these corporate structures and show you a more excellent way: the way of the steward, the way of the herald, and the way of the "One." We’re going to look at how to break free from the rockstar mentality and return to a life where Christ is truly the center.

I often think about Elijah. Here was a man radically on fire for God. He wore camel's hair, ate locusts and honey, and was totally abandoned to the Father's will. He stood on Mount Carmel and watched as God answered by fire, defeating over 400 prophets of Baal. It was a massive supernatural victory! And then, a "little girl" named Jezebel sends him a threatening message, and what does he do? He runs.

He runs all the way to a cave and hides. He tells God, "I'm the only one left." I can relate to that. Sometimes I look around at the landscape of modern Christianity and I feel incredibly lonely. I wonder, "Lord, where are the people who actually want to walk in the Spirit? Where are the ones who aren't just looking for a platform?"

But God told Elijah that He had 7,000 others who hadn't bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah didn't have social media to find the remnant, but I believe we are finding each other today. The "honeycomb" of the Kingdom is being built, one cubicle at a time. It’s a six-sided hexagon—six being the number of man. We are to manifest the will of the Lord on the earth, just as He showed the pattern of the Tabernacle in the heavens.

The Rockstar Paradigm

I have to be honest with you—I’ve been the guy on the stage. Before I was writing books like OPEN YOUR EYES, I was in Hollywood trying to be a rockstar. I remember the feeling of being under those hot lights, hitting a guitar solo, and feeling every eye in the audience locked on me. It is an intoxicating, alluring feeling. It feels like you are receiving worship.

But that is a fleshly, dangerous thing. It is the very paradigm that caused Lucifer to fall. Look at what the Word says:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15 KJV)

Notice the "I wills." I will ascend. I will exalt. I will be like the Most High. This "leaven of the devil" has crept into our churches. We’ve built platforms that are literally raised above the congregation. We want a big number next to our social media handle. We want to pack bodies into buildings. But is it "Look at me" or "Look at Jesus"?

I’ve struggled with this myself. Even the name of my blog, "Conrad Rocks," gives me a check in my spirit sometimes. I have to ask myself constantly: Who is being glorified? We need to be like John the Baptist, who said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." We need to be like Paul, who said, I die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV).

The "Keruso" Command

I was ministering in a marketplace recently—just being out among the people—when a man in a spiffy, three-piece suit came up to me. He looked successful, polished, and very "churchy." He asked for prayer, and when I asked what he wanted God to do, he told me he wanted to be "elevated" in his church. He felt it wasn't his "time" yet and he was frustrated.

I looked at him and I thought about Mark 16. I told him, "What about the marketplace? There are people right here who need to feel the compassion of Jesus. Why wait for a title in a building?"

The Bible doesn't tell us to go into a building and wait for people to come to us. It says:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

The Greek word for "preach" there is keruso. It means to be a herald. Think of a royal messenger in the old days. He didn't stand on a stage and wait for a crowd to buy tickets. He went into the public square, blew a trumpet, and proclaimed the King's message with authority and gravity.

Jesus preached on the mountaintops. He preached from boats. He preached in the streets. Christianity was intended to be a migratory religion! If you are sitting in a pew waiting for the "pastor" to give you permission to serve God, you’ve been caught in a corporate paradigm. You don't need a 501c3 to hand a goody bag to a homeless man. You don't need a board of directors to mow your neighbor's lawn and tell them Jesus loves them.

The Ministry of the One

I remember a conversation I had with my mentor, Howard Jackson, back in Houston. We’d eat lunch every Friday and talk about the deep things of God. Howard did construction, and he had this way of taking people into his home—people who were down on their luck, maybe struggling with drugs—and he’d disciple them while they worked.

One day, I looked at his washer and dryer and asked him about it. He said, "Conrad, that’s not my washer and dryer. That’s the Lord’s. I’m just a steward of it."

That blew my mind. If we are truly sold out to God, everything we have is His. Our business is our ministry. Our home is a mission field. It’s not about the masses; it’s about the "One." Jesus left the ninety and nine to find the one sheep that was lost. Loving your neighbor is just loving the "one" who is right in front of you at this moment.

Personal Reflections

I’ve had to eat a lot of humble pie lately. I’ve realized that sometimes my own frustration with the church comes from a place of pride. When I respond in anger to someone attacking me on social media, what am I really defending? Am I protecting God’s honor, or am I protecting my own name?

God doesn't need me to defend Him. He’s the Creator of the universe! Usually, when I’m getting "pummeled" by a paradigm, it’s because Jesus is trying to show me where I’ve drifted. I’ve been guilty of taking pictures of myself with a microphone just to show people I was "ministering." Who was that for?

I’ve realized that I often find myself in the pigpen of self-exaltation. But the cool thing about Jesus is that He is the Way. I can pull myself up, repent, and start walking back toward the Father. I can choose to be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer who sits in a pew and claps. If you’ve read my book Overcoming Night Terror, you know that spiritual victory comes from submission to God and resisting the devil—not from building a bigger platform for ourselves.

Biblical References

The theme of the "Remnant" vs. the "System" is woven throughout the scriptures. We see it in the church of Thyatira, where they "suffered" that woman Jezebel to teach and seduce.

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. (Revelation 2:20 KJV)

When we allow corporate, self-exalting paradigms to rule the church, we are suffering Jezebel. We are allowing an "idol" of personality and performance to take the place of the Holy Spirit.

We also see the cycle of revival and falling away throughout the Old Testament. People get comfortable, they start seeking their own glory, they fall into a pit, they cry out to God, and He sends revival. We are in a "falling away" period in many of our corporate structures, but that means a revival of the "Remnant" is right around the corner.

Key Takeaways

• Break the Rockstar Mentality: Ministry is not about being seen by men; it’s about being known by God.
• Be a "Keruso" Herald: Don't wait for a building or a title. Proclaim the Gospel in the marketplace and on the "housetops."
• Embrace Stewardship: Your house, your car, and your business belong to Jesus. Use them to serve others.
• Focus on the One: You don't need a crowd to be effective. Jesus focused on the one lost sheep, and we should too.
• Kill Your Pride Daily: Like George Mueller, be willing to "burn your novel" or anything that puffs you up.

Conclusion and Call to Action

It’s time to get out of the soundproof cave. It’s time to stop being a spectator and start being the Church. If you feel that agitation in your soul, it’s because you were made for more than just sitting in a pew. You were made to be a supernatural representative of the biblical Jesus.

We need to stop using the "sword of the Spirit" on our brothers and sisters and start using it to cut through the paradigms of this world. Let’s be humble. Let’s be doers. Let’s find the "one" today and show them the love of Christ.

If this message resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. Have you felt the weight of these corporate paradigms? How is God calling you to step out? Leave a comment below or connect with me on social media. And if you want to dive deeper into walking in the supernatural, check out my books and other podcasts at ConradRocks.net.

Action Items

1. Audit Your "I Wills": Spend time in prayer this week asking God to show you where you are seeking your own glory instead of His.
2. The "Marketplace" Challenge: Commit to having one spiritual conversation outside of a church building this week. Look for the "one" at the grocery store or work.
3. Stewardship Check: Identify one thing you own (a tool, a room, a skill) and explicitly offer it to God for His use this week.
4. Read the Word for Yourself: Don't just take a pastor's word for it. Dig into the book of Acts and see the "migratory" nature of the early church.
5. Kill a "Pride Project": Is there something you are doing just to be seen? Consider stepping back from it to refocus your heart on Jesus.
   
   Until we meet again, dig deeper and go higher. God bless you!