With several recorded albums and a career within the church, Steffany Gretzinger has learned a thing or two about worship, what it is—and what it is not. The gifted singer is known for songs such as “Save Me” and “As the Deer.” But what makes Gretzinger stand out among the growing list of worship leaders is her heart for Jesus.
When asked how she can stand in front of thousands of people leading worship, she remarked, “You go back to the one every time.” Gretzinger continued, “You come back to the one, and you throw down that crown.”
A Worship Genre? Steffany Gretzinger Chimes In on the Culture of Worship
Steffany Gretzinger recently sat down with Will Hart on the Green Room podcast to share her experiences and insights into the culture of worship.
She described Jesus as meek and lowly throughout his ministry. Gretzinger continued, “Everyone he chose was lowly or a hot mess.” Throughout the interview, she humbly held the tension between leading worship for thousands of people at a time and keeping her focus on Jesus himself.
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Without naming names or recording labels, Gretzinger spoke caution to worship leaders, especially young worship leaders. It’s so easy to lose focus. While many worship songs are focused on the one, true God, so many more songs speak to our individual experience and benefits we receive from God.
What the ‘Secret Place’ Has To Do With Worship
“Can we first be obsessed with the one we are singing to?” asked Gretzinger.
According to Gretzinger, many young worship leaders get caught up in the “calling.” “Jesus only ever called people to himself,” she specified. “He said, ‘Come follow me.'” The commissioning came later, but the calling was to himself first.
“It’s the life in the secret place we are truly yielded in walking with him,” she said. “But you can tell when someone’s been in the secret place.” Gretzinger said she sees a “satisfaction issue” if Jesus isn’t at the center, “satisfying everything.” Young people “who did not have a structure of intimacy or maturity” can be crushed by the weight of crowns being placed on their heads.
Gretzinger went on to share about how creatives—and she grew up around a lot of musicians—have a hard time with accountability. They argue, “This is my gift,” as if that exempts them from genuine and deep discipleship.
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“The fruit will always speak of the root,” she said. “So many people that I’ve known through the years couldn’t open a Bible and tell you where anything was or couldn’t preach the gospel.”
Gretzinger continued, “Then, we started really loving to be in front” without identifying and spending time developing the necessary “backbone”—a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus. “There’s so much entitlement. There’s so much arrogance, and I think that there’s not been enough of the presence in those places to reveal what’s really going on underneath.”
