Can you be a Christian and be in a BGLO?

As I was looking up information on my sorority, I came across a series of websites that talked about renouncing their BGLO affiliations due to their relationship with Christ. I was taken aback...not because they renounced their BGLO affiliation; but because they honestly believed that they could not remain Christians and Greek. Their reasoning is this: you pledge to honor your sorority/fraternity; help out your fellow sorors/frats in their times of need; and you pledge to "pledge your heart, mind, and soul". At first I was like, yes you do pledge these things; but as I began to look at it, I still could not see why they would make a distinction between being Christian and Greek...to me there was no comparison. I am Greek, but first and foremost I am a Christian. I pledge to honor GOD before any and everything else, but that does not mean I do not love my sorority. I'm positive that when our founders made the pledge, they were not trying to place the sorority above God. I'm also positive that you can remain a Christian while participating in a BGLO.

BGLOs do a lot for the community. Through leadership and service (to all mankind! can you tell what sorority I'm in?!) we do good works; and doesn't God want us to do good works? We worship together (there are plenty of times we all attend church service together). I don't believe that there is one soror who places the sorority above God. I know plenty of sorors (myself included) who are devoted Christians; and not only are they devoted, they are also workers in the church! So how can you say that they are not honoring and putting God first?

For instance, BJ (intials for my soror and fellow church member) teaches Sunday School to the little kids, she sang in the choir, speaks at different Women's Annual conferences, helps with the youth department as a matron, was an active member of the Young Adult Organization (until it disbanded), is an active member in the Mission Department, and to top it all off , BJ will do anything that is asked of her in the church. She's a very dedicated Christian who is constantly witnessing to others about the goodness of the Lord. She's also a dedicated member of our BGLO. She assisted with the pageant, she's active and at most community service events, she even read a poem that she made just for our BGLO at our 1oo year celebration in D.C. (you should know what sorority we belong to by now!). But if you were to ask her what she puts first God or AKA; I can honestly say, she'll choose GOD every single time. This doesn't mean that she doesn't love AKA or that she isn't dedicated...it's just saying that there is no comparison between the two. Ask any Christian that also happens to be an AKA, who/what they would choose and I can tell you that they'll say GOD every time.

Take myself for instance. I sing in the choir at church, I'm a youth matron, I'm active in Mission, I was president of the Young Adult Organization, I assisted the secretary of our church, and I taught Sunday School. I'm also dedicated to AKA. When asked to help, I help. I would help a fellow soror in a minute; but then again I would help anybody if I could, soror or not.

The problem is that people are letting their BGLO define them instead of them defining their BGLO. What I mean by this is that, AKA does not define me. It is a part of me, yes; but it is not all of me. GOD defines who I am, period, point blank. None of this means that I am not dedicated to my sorority; all it means is that there is more to me than AKA. I choose GOD every time. I help make the sorority, the sorority doesn't make me.

I almost feel as if the people who are saying that they are renouncing their BGLOs are too ashamed of some of the past behaviors they may have done in the "name" of the BGLO...but remember this...everyone has a choice; and if you choose to do things that are not Christian like, you can't blame it on the organization...you must blame yourself. If you think that your BGLO made you do something that was un-Godly, then I want you to remember this...you had a choice, and YOU chose not to do the right thing.

But guess what? God is good and He's merciful. Repent, and remember that you are a child of God; and don't do the behavior that you were so ashamed of. There are plenty of people out there who are Christian and Greek. I don't think not being in a BGLO is a requirement for being a Christian. I believe that the requirement is to believe in the Trinity, believe that God sent His only Son to die for our sins, to believe that he died on a Friday and rose on the following Sunday. I believe that in order to be a Christian you have to love the Lord; I don't believe that I am a non-Christian because I am in a BGLO.

AT the end of the day, you have to know that your faith and your relationship with God comes first. If you question that, or if you put the BGLO before God; then yes, you need to have a reality check.