Can Worship Be Wasteful?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Singer-songwriter and pastor Darlene Zschech is sharing her thoughts on wasteful vs. worshipful worship.
“I stand in awe of what God has done in my life,” Zschech said during an episode of “The Walk” podcast. “I would not be here today without the grace and goodness of God.”
She explained that, while she was a performer from a very young age, it wasn’t until her teenage years that she learned how to incorporate her faith into her love of music.
“When I got radically saved at the age of 15, my heart had to do a lot of unlearning,” she said. “The performer in me had to sit down as the worshiper in me had to learn to rise.”
She and her boyfriend Mark, who is now her husband, started a band and toured high schools.
“We felt like we had the freedom to really bring the gospel to young people,” Zschech said.
The musician then explained her views on worship.
“There is worship that is considered wasteful, and there is worship that is considered truly worshipful,” she said. “I know that Mark and I, in our own family, there are still family members who would consider the path of following Jesus and building His church in our lives to be wasteful and not worshipful, but that’s okay, because I know my why. My position in Christ, it gives me this grace to stand, not from a pious position, but living from a posture of worshipful surrender. I will not always be understood, and that is okay.”
Zschech explained that it’s important to make sure our worship isn’t wasteful, as “what we tolerate today will always become tomorrow’s normal, tomorrow’s culture…if we’re okay with sloppy devotion or feeling like this is just wasteful, well, that’s what will actually happen.”
“When we reduce our activity to a means to an end or a performance-based offering, it devalues the pure and miraculous presence and person of Jesus,” she said.
Zschech then shared her prayer for every performance: “I continually ask God that every time I have this incredible honor and privilege to lead others in the worship of God is that the offering will truly cause people to see Jesus, and that our response of love to Him will come from a deeper understanding of His worth.”
Zschech is currently preparing for the release of Testament, a project that “celebrates the 30-year anniversary of ‘Shout to the Lord’ with 25 fresh takes on legacy releases and five brand-new songs. It will be presented on two EPs releasing over summer 2024, with a full album release on October 11 followed by a 30-day devotional published by David C Cook,” per The Christian Beat.
“Testament means ‘a statement of belief or direction’, or in a legal term, something that serves as ‘evidence of truth, legally binding,’ which so describes the promises of God, His character and His goodness,” she said in a statement given to The Christian Beat. “This has been my heart’s desire over my lifetime — to live in response to the great love of God and His unwavering faithfulness over my life. Really, this is the heart of worship, that the whole of our lives would be poured out for the glory of God. It’s not always easy to choose this kind of life, but obedience when following Jesus is really the only way you’ll ever walk in true freedom. This is my story and the foundation from which Testament has been woven together.”
In a recent Instagram post, Zschech wrote, “The next bunch of songs from ‘Testament’ are being released this week. I have to say, one of the many things I love about getting older is that I find such deep fulfilment in doing what God has called me to do, without being concerned about what others think. So freeing!! I truly do pray that the songs minister and do in your heart what only worship can.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Zschech’s faith:
Darlene Zschech may be one of the most recognized names in modern Christian music, with tunes like “Shout To The Lord,” “Worthy Is The Lamb,” “Mighty to Save,” and many more under her belt.
But her success hasn’t come without struggle.
“I know how to worship. I know how to declare God’s goodness. I know how to dig into the Word, but I had to go to a deeper place,” Zschech says of her 2013 cancer diagnosis.
“What I found in my valley of the shadow of death is, I found the presence of God, and I realized, you know when it says ‘the valley,’ in Psalm 23, ‘of the shadow of death,’ you can only have shadow if there is light, and it’s just a fact that God doesn’t leave us. Just because we’re saved doesn’t mean we won’t have troubles.”
“I know that I want to live for the praise of God,” Zschech says. “I’m not worried about so much what people think, and then I’m really about the local church. I feel like it’s part of God’s great solution, and I’m more than focused on being part of that answer.”
