Hey friends. It has been a MINUTE since I have posted for you guys. Now that school is back in session, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to jump back in the game and follow up on my last POST. If you have not already read that one, I highly suggest you read that first. In it we discussed some of the origins of Greek Life (GL) and just what exactly you are pledging yourself to when you become a member of one of these groups. Today I want to share some more of my experience as well as some more insights as to why I wholeheartedly believe that it is dangerous to become entangled in them.
Disclaimer: Please do not feel condemned by me. If you feel my rage in these posts, just know that it is not towards you, but to the evil at the root. I have a righteous indignation for you and my goal is to educate. "12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12); the same powers that govern sororities and fraternities. You may not like to hear this. Maybe, you are just not ready yet, but maybe the Lord is trying to show you something. So, please, before you attack me for these posts, really pray about it and test the spirits. Research it for yourself , and be honest. Seek The Lord, but I believe he will show you the same thing that he has me.
When I first decided to write these posts, I started looking for other testimonies to see if I was the only one who had this revelation. Not only did I find that I was NOT the only one, I found that in almost in almost every testimony, the Lord revealed the SAME things as He did to me. So that tells me that I am not crazy, and this is truly an important message laid on my heart by the Lord. Someone I know needs to hear it. (Ps. If you are that person, I would love to hear about it. Message me.) I believe that he allowed me to go through it all for "such a time as this". (Esther 4:14)
I know what some of you must be thinking. You think I have lost it, and that is okay. I am not hear to gain the world or even your favor. I am sharing this information with you in order to help you narrow your eyes on Jesus. I want us all to get to heaven and to live the best, most joyful, bondage free life we can before we get there. "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17) That is the goal here. I want you to sharpen your spiritual vision to see the truth about these secret organizations, as I have.
In addition to listening to testimony after testimony, I also listened to the many challenges against the case I presented in my last post; all in favor of these organizations. I have heard out each one and my answer is still the same. It just is not safe for anyone, let alone Christians, no matter the excuse that anyone can give. At best, it is naive to think that any of them are good. I challenge you to write an HONEST pros and cons list of how GLO's have impacted your life. I would venture to say that it hasn't done much for you at all and it never will. It is the stuff of wood, hay, stubble (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:11-13).
You see God must be the highest to us. He must have preeminence. When you try to mix your doctrine and spiritual relationship with the Lord with ritualistic practices, you are not giving him the preeminence that he deserves. You are playing with fire. The hellfire that destroys more than just the body. It destroys the soul. The Lord must have our whole hearts. When you make a pledge to a GLO (Greek Letter Organization) you are pledging a life of devotion and service to uphold the group, that of which should belong to The Lord. He MUST have the preeminence the GL tells you is yours. He should take up all of our spare time through the week.
#GodsPlan
After I made my last post, I saw someone post a photo from their sorority captioned with the hashtag #GodsPlan. I knew it was directed to me and meant to be a smack in the face of that post. I did not get upset at that person, but it did make me incredibly sad for them. To say confidently that to be a part one of these organizations is not only a good thing, but the plan that God has for your life!? I am sorry, but that is bologna. Sure, God can use anything, (just like he did with me) but it is not "his plan" for you to be in bondage to the devils work and furthermore DOING the devils work for him. I am here to say that it is most certainly NOT what God wants for you. Idolatry will never be what the Lord plans for you.
It is an injustice to our Lord to claim that these organizations are good. It is a denial of the factual presence of satan and sin within them and within the culture they produce. Let us revisit that culture that I am talking about. What does it involve? I got to experience several sorority/fraternity atmospheres and it was always the exact same only with new faces. It certainly was not an environment becoming of a Christian. After all it is Satan who is the leader of that type of rebel culture as well as the ruler of idolatry, false religions, and the occult. All of these things are things that you will find when you go Greek. You don't want to be yolked to satan and his powers. You don't want those footholds in your life.
Reasons to be in a Sorority or Fraternity?
We already established that the very core of these groups does not belong to the Lord. So what are your reasons to be a sorority or fraternity? I want you to be really honest with yourself now. WHY ARE YOU IN THEM? I googled "reasons to join a sorority" and I found exactly what I thought I would. "Friends, campus community, connections after college, opportunities for leadership, philanthropy, growth and accountability, to build a wardrobe, motivation, and social events." There is absolutely nothing I see on that list that you cant already do on your own.
Let's say that you were able to rationalize the ceremonial rebirthing side of the organizations as being okay in the Lord's eyes. None of those are good reasons at all to join. Let's take philanthropy off the list first. Your reason can not be the philanthropy. You can financially support any cause you want without having to belong to a secretive organization to do it. What is next? Motivation and accountability to keep your grades up? You should be doing that anyways. A good job after you graduate should be your motivation. Is is friendship or family? You can get friends by talking to literally anyone anywhere. You don't need a "sisterhood" or a "brotherhood" to have friends, or family for that matter. Let's cut the bull. Let's be honest, its the social side. THAT is the main reason any one is in them to begin with. It's the ONLY reason. It's rebel culture, and its unmoderated. It is the exclusion and feeling of supremacy. That is the real reason people join.
Can they be Christ-Centered?
Once someone told me that their Sorority was different and centered around Christ. They prayed and sang hymnals, so it had to be good. It's always the same old song, and to be honest, I am tired of hearing it. We have to be more diligent than that. We have to be better stewards than that. You want to know something else about their particular soror? They also had the exact same wild behavior as the rest of them, and I knew that because I had seen pictures of the wild parties. That seems to be a common theme.
How do those two add up? They don't in my opinion, but it got me thinking. Is it even possible for one of these groups to be centered around Christ? If these groups are "Christ centered" like she said, then why can't everyone be involved? If these organizations were truly centered around Christ, it would be that way. Christ doesn't have a vetting process. Christ doesn't turn people away for not being good enough. No, He accepts all who come to Him. I sure hope that opens your eyes. You can't be truly centered around Christ and consider yourself better than other people. You just can't. Now would be a good time to remind you of the very popular chant "If you ain't Greek, you ain't...". So, no they can't be Christ centered. With out even digging deep, no they can not.
I keep thinking about the fact that there are srats that actually sing hymnals and I just don't get it. Who is it for, when the very foundations of the organization are so clearly pagan? You are either for God or you are against him. There is no in-between. The time and devotion you could be putting in God, is taken up with emptiness and fruitlessness. You can do so much more with God than you can with the opportunities that GL can provide you.
Why are they so secretive?
If these organizations are "good" then why the need to be so secretive. What is there to hide? It is easy for me to see why it is secretive now. That is one of the biggest tools of enticement they have. From experience I know that it is also hard to realize the deception at first. I suspect that it is designed that way to trick people into joining. If they told you all of the secrets up front, why would you need to join in order to obtain them? What other need to be enlightened would you have? If people knew the secrets ahead of time, it would be easier to know exactly what it is that you are aligning with. Therefore it would be easier for Christians to know it is wrong. If you are already a member when they tell you these mystical secrets, it is harder to want to turn away because you are already that far in. By the way, I am here to tell you, the secrets are not worth it. All it is, is filling you in on their traditions and titles and partial history. All of which you can find out on your own without needing to align yourself with them.
This false belief of "enlightenment" is the same age old lie that Eve faced in the garden of Eden. The serpent said that the Lord was with-holding true wisdom from them and to eat the forbidden fruit would enlighten them to the true. It is the same with GL, if you just pledge to a secret society, you will be enlightened to the truth. It is actually just deception. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened." I hope you have read Genesis and remember what happened after that.
Why are they so expensive?
I really don't want to spend too much time on this topic. If these organizations were so good, why do they cost so much, and where does that money go? I sure can't figure it out. Especially if your campus doesn't have a house, like mine. If philanthropy was such a big deal, why wouldn't they put their money to that only? For the love, why are you paying for something that is FREE. You don't have to pay for friends, family, community, or accountability, or anything else that you would join for. Real friends can't be bought. Furthermore, the clothes you excessively spend on really aren't as useful in the real word as they make it out on. I'm also pretty sure that normal jobs don't want you to wear all of those neon tanks they made you buy either. The money you could be saving there is worth it alone to not join.
Modeled in Biblical History
There are so many amazing examples in the bible that parallels my thoughts, but there are a few in particular that I want to point out. In the book of Isaiah Chapter 5. After Isaiah explained to Israel, and the people of Judah that they were an evil vineyard that produced wild fruit when they were planted to produce choice fruit. He says an amazing thing. "20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" And we can see the fate that lies ahead of those people in verse 24. "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." Don't be one of those people that Isaiah said "Woe unto". Don't call these sin loving groups a "choice fruit" producing vineyard when all that comes from them is "wild fruit" and "briers and thorns". (Vs. 2-4) It is clear what happens to those who do. In layman's terms, don't call sororities a good thing when they are not. Nothing good will come of your association with them. Brothers and sisters, heed the warnings.
As I was writing this blog post, I ran across another amazing point. I decided to open my bible to the place I left off last. I turned to the book of Jeremiah and I know that the Lord worked that timing out just for this post. I beg of you to read Chapters 2-3. I think these Chapters mirror exactly what I am trying to convey to you. The same case presented against Jerusalem in the bible, is the same case I present against Christians in sororities.
“For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all!”
"Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay, For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!" says the Lord."
A cistern is tank used for collecting rain water. Our God is the fountain of living water. Like Jerusalem, we are setting aside God for a cracked cistern of status, power, other relationships, popularity, etc. Jeremiah 2:18, "What have you gained by your alliance with Egypt?", verse 18, "you have prostituted yourself by bowing down to idols." By repeating the rituals and ceremonies to the ancients Gods, you ARE yourself worshiping them just the same as the ancient Greeks did. Like Israel, we create an alliance with Egypt by doing the exact same customs, rituals, initiation ceremonies, singing chants that were all done in the false religion. You are no different than Israel who God brought that case against.
How are you not those same people when we do exactly what they did? Jeremiah 2:23. " You say, "That's not true!" I haven't worshiped images of Baal!" "But how can you say that?" Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done." Verse 25, "When will you stop running? When will you stop panting after other gods? But you say, save your breath. I'm in love with these foreign Gods, and I can't stop loving them now!" I have experienced this exact same conversation over and over again when I try to teach people the truth. They say to me. "No, we pledged with our hand on a bible to God. Its a good thing, we do philanthropy, (insert defense here). I am not doing anything bad. I for sure am not worshiping a God." Do you see the similarities?
“Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!”
My favorite part, verses 34 and 35. "Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses! 35. And yet you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn’t angry with me!’" Do you know what that means to me? You have let yourself become deceived. Your clothing is stained by your alliance with this ancient religion who shed innocent blood to worthless gods. By this alliance you are just as guilty. "But you didn't catch them breaking into your houses." Meaning, you didn't notice the enemy as he was right in front of you. Your devotion and dedication is not to your sorority or fraternity. It is to an enemy who cloaked in light, but underneath is a false religion of false gods who have innocent blood on their hands. "Surely God isn't angry with me!" The truth is, he is, but all you have to do is turn away from it and repent. Just like Israel, Christians try to down play their wrong doings with the highlights of their good qualities. If you continue through to Chapter 3, you will see that covered as well.
"Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods?" vs. 2. It is so crazy how big these organizations have gotten and how many young adults are initiated each semester. It is rare that you find a college that doesn't have some for of Greek Life and colleges are scattered across every state. The shrines really are on every hilltop. "You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness." When college students get on campus for the very first time, often Greek booths are the first thing they meet. Waiting, fishing for who they can entice to join. Just like "a prostitute beside the road" The land of college is polluted with its prostitution and wickedness. As you start college this week, see if I am wrong.
My Back Story
When I first got involved, it wasn't overly obvious to me that Greek Life and Sororities were evil, the way that it is so clear to me now. I wasn't raised in a christian environment for most of my life leading up to that point, so my moral compass just wasn't developed. My family tried to teach me wrong from right, but it was never from a biblical standpoint, so I really just didn't get it. I didn't understand the point of being moral, especially because everyone around me was living the same way. I didn't understand do as I say, not as I do. People just don't learn that way. They learn from monkey see, monkey do. It is especially that way in college. When everyone I knew was hyping the college lifestyle [frats, parties, sex}, I just thought what goes on in college is expected of me. (I could write a whole other post on the MANY reasons why I am not a huge college advocate, especially for Christians, but I won't go there now.) I was so lost in sin. It was all just normal life to me, and I fully embraced all aspects of college life.
I hadn't really had my ah ha moment with the Lord yet. I had been to several churches, but my heart was not committed to the Lord. I had never paid attention to a single sermon. Even though I claimed that I was a Christian. I was the false disciple described in Matthew 7:21-23: So I know how easy it is to just not know any better. Although I would argue now that everyone really knows better, because right and wrong are built in to us. It is just a matter of whether we choose to submit to it or not. There is something that I want you to know, just saying the words "I am a christian" doesn't make it so. I know because I was once someone who claimed to be just that, when I wasn't.
“21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
entering Greek Life:
When I went through rushing and pledging, ( HERE is a description about how the process works if you are unfamiliar.) the only thing I kept thinking was, "is all of this going to be worth it?". I didn't really understand most of what went on because they don't really start telling you anything, until after you have become a new member. That is why I call it blind devotion. You are devoted before you ever even know what it's about, just by saying "I want to be in a sorority." It was my want to know the secrets that compelled me further through the process. When people are speaking a secret language around you, its just human nature to want to be filled in. I want to point out that the process is designed that way on purpose as a technique to spark your interest and reel you in. It makes you desire the enlightenment. It gives you entitlement to know something that not everyone could. And at the time I was really struggling with the want to be better than every one else. I wanted others to know that I was better too. I am happy to say that I have changed, I no longer have anything to prove.
My experience
I still remember it like it was yesterday. It didn't take long at all for me to become completely engulfed in all things Greek Life. #Sratsohard Am I right? (Dramatic eye roll.) I started hanging out with all of the people and going to the parties, and it was so stereotypical. It is what you see in the movies: raging parties, so much alcohol, so much sex, hazing, drugs, more sex, abortions, racism, lesbianism, homosexuality, orgies. It is a rebel culture. You name a sin and I bet I could give you a witness account of it. Of course no one ever talks about that stuff... in public. They also do extremely well to hide it from the parents, school officials, and higher-ups, but make no mistake, it still goes on. It was so bad. I witnessed so many things that I can not believe that I allowed myself to be a part of. Just down right disgusting and lewd. I don't even have time to tell everything that I saw. What is crazy, is that my college was relatively small, so the on-campus activities were somewhat tame compared to other nearby schools and chapters that I traveled to. And, they were nothing compared to the bigger schools over the US.
It was nothing like was promised to me. The amazing friendships that I was promised were superficial and did not last. I don't talk to a single member of the sorority I was in. Once I left it, I was once again OUT. There was no "family". There was cut-throat competition and drama. There were no "opporitunites, unless you are talking about your only opportunity being about who you know. It certainly wasn't the atmosphere that I expected. No. Beyond the neon matching tanks and the strobe lights, it was dark. Gosh, was everything so dark. Every meeting I went to was in a dark room. Every party was in the dark. The ceremonies were in dark rooms. The ritual was in a dark room. The frat houses were so dark. Everything surrounding this entire experience is filled with darkness, physically and spiritually. That is one of the things that I just can't shake. The spirit of a dark oppression is so present that I hate to even dredge up the memories. I still get the creeps. So dark, you could feel it. Oh, and hazing is still very much still alive and well.
NO joke, y'all. There were so many instances so dark that I could physically feel the presence of evil. If you have ever experienced this, then you know what I mean. One in particular still stands out to me today, but I didn't realize the significance of it until later on. Keep in mind that I went through this around five years ago, and some of the specific details are a bit foggy at this point. It was the figurative "nail in the coffin" for me when it came to the whole srat/frat business.
The Ritual: the nail in the coffin
It was the moment that I realized that this was not for me. The ritual. It is the pinnacle of crossing over into your new enlightened life. It is your rebirth. I am sure it is all the juicy details you really wanted to know about. It is also known as the initiation ceremony. We were instructed to wear all white dresses, with no jewelry and lite makeup to the ceremony. I thought that was kind of strange, but I was like "whatever" at the time. We were instructed to car pool to the building. Already initiated members drove us there. On the way there, I started to feel anxious, and not in the good way. It was in the way of oh, I feel like I shouldn't be doing this. How can I get out of this? I am going to be sick, kind of anxious. The closer we got the stronger the feeling got.
When we got to the building, we were instructed to wait in a lobby type area that was blocked off from the rest of the ceremonial rooms. In that first room, we were given a book to sign. (I hate that my name will forever be in that book.) We also received a book with notes from all of the sisters and memorabilia from our new member (aka Pledge) experience. I sat across the table from another girl who got the same book as I did. I remember the look on her face. She seemed just as creeped out as I was. While I sat there, I could hear the chapter in the room next to us chanting and singing something. I could not understand exactly what they were saying, but it sounded eery. I can tell you that. It was really awkward too. We both just kind of stared at each other like what on earth is going on in there. It was seriously so creepy and it gave me literal chill bumps.
Once the chanting stopped, we were led to a second room where we were given the robes and blindfolds. At that point I realized that we would be going through the entire ceremony (ritual) completely blindfolded. No one had told me that would happen and I was one hundred percent not okay with it. I didn't want to put it on but I also didn't have a choice. It didn't seem to bother any of the other girls, so I sucked it up and put it on. A sister helped put on our robes, socks, and blindfolds and then helped us into a line with the other new members (pledges). No one was talking. It was so strange. We were guided to put a hand on the shoulder of the girl in front of us to form a chain type line, and then led into a third room.
I heard a knock and a member called to us and asked who we were. Then another member introduced us with some weird script type phrase that I can't remember. Something along the lines of sister of dark who wish to be enlightened. Then we were led in while all of the girls sang another chanty song. I can't even find the words to fully describe the way I felt walking in to the room. THE MOMENT I stepped through the doors I was hit in the face with a thick presence of evil. It was very physical. I could feel it. I knew I should not be there. I felt dizzy and nauseous. I seriously thought I was going to throw up or faint with each step I took. I even contemplated turning and running out of the room, but I felt too trapped to do it. Since I didn't drive there and my phone was locked in someone else's car, I felt as though I had no way to get out of it. I am still not for sure why I let that stop me.
I wasn't the first person in the line, and I was thankful for that. I felt comfort in being shielded by another person, as silly as that sounds. We were led around the room to a few what I assumed to be stations, where we were do something/say something before being led to the next one. There were a few scripts that you had to repeat back to them. I can't remember the exact words; but I remember feeling that I shouldn't be saying that I agreed to it, but I did. I am still traumatized by what happened during one part. It was so scary that I thought my heart would stop. I was made to lay down on a mat on the floor while the girls were chanting something around me. Then voices with dramatic intensity matched a huge cold rush of air that swept over my entire body. It came from directly above me and rushed over my whole body. Since my eyes were blindfolded, I couldn't tell what made the rush of air go over me but in the moment it felt like something evil entered my body. It was demonic. I am getting chills thinking about it.
When we were finished going through all of the stations, they put us in the center of the room were we were able to remove our blindfolds and watch as another group went through everything that we had just done. Once everyone went through, we finished out the remainder of the ritual together, un-blindfolded. Once my blind-fold came off, I took in my surroundings. The whole chapter was standing around the room. It was dark. There were altars on all sides. There were skulls, crossbones, candles and flowers every where.
Each altar was headed by a person who identified with a very weird names. There was a station were you receive member pin, and one where you pledged your oath to the sorority. Another in particular was really bizarre. I remember that I was so uncomfortable. Since my blindfold was removed at this point, I could then see that it was actually a legit altar. There was also an open book next to a skull, but I am not for sure what book it was. We all gathered around it while someone said another scripted oath type dialogue. Then we all passed around a weird goblet thing and pretended to drink from it. After each person pretended to drink from the goblet you were then suppose to act as though you were pouring some on the altar with the book. It was really bizarre.
As soon as the ritual ended, and we were allowed to leave, I darted out of the door so fast and waited at the car. Once outside, I was finally able to calm down. After being in that dark place, I was never more happy to see the sun outside. After I left, I immediately began researching everything I could find about Greek Letter organizations and rituals and it solidified my decision to leave. That ceremony was the last thing that I participated in before I dropped. I knew it wasn't for me. I talked to a few people about what I had gone through and what I had found out. It was unanimous that it wasn't good. As a Christian, I had no business being a part of that group of people. I so badly wish that I could remember every single tiny detail in the fullest of the ceremony, but I just can't. I know that many of you will want to know every detail. Trust me that I wish I could remember. I wish I could get with someone who could jog my memory about the specific tiny details so that I could research it even further for you. I guarantee there is more proof to be shared, but I guess the take away you need to know is this. This was indeed a ritual that was not founded in christianity, and it was indeed evil.
I know I have said a lot of things today. Can you believe I still have more?Research it all for yourself. Come to your own conclusion, don't just take my word for it. I want you to know that if you are someone who is considering joining one of these groups, or you already are in one, or you are sad that you weren't; I hope your mind has been changed. I want you to know that it will be okay. you don't need this. You never did. You don't have to stay in it. You can change your mind at any time. You can leave it at any time. I say there is no better time than now.
If you have come into agreement with on of these groups, you have to denounce it verbally and pray against the powers of it. Repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Ask him to prune it out of you and to uproot any strongholds that you allowed into your life. Also, Have other people pray over you. It is powerful. Next, burn all the things. Anything you have in your house that belongs to those groups, burn it. Don't leave any one single thing in your house to have a foothold. Next, don't look back. Ask the Lord to show you wisdom regarding this topic and truly listen to him. Turn to him for everything and I know you won't regret it. He can and will fill any void you were trying to fill with the sorority or fraternity.
“7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Research it all for yourself. Come to your own conclusion, don't just take my word for it. Thats all for now.
Love always,
Sarah
P.s. sorry in advance, I will check for typos later. It is two AM and I am posting ready or not.
Extra Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_religion , https://www.google.com/search?q=cult+definition&oq=Cult+&aqs=chrome.4.69i57j69i61j69i60j69i61j0l2.2865j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8