The Painful Cost of Following Christ

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

On May 19, 2024, I renounced my 30-year-membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. I thought ending my membership would be easy, but it was difficult and painful. It felt like the ripping off of a band-aid stuck to the scab of a wound after being left on too long. The wound was my identity, and Delta was the band-aid.

Delta had become a part of who I was. I wasn’t just a member of a sorority. I was a Delta. I wore the symbols proudly and embraced Delta’s identity after pledging. I took an oath, which I repeated during every chapter meeting and other closed functions, that I would forever uplift Delta’s values, goals, and ethics. Membership in Delta Sigma Theta was a lifetime commitment.

But how could I commit my life to an organization when I had already given my life to Christ? My identity was defined by my Creator, God, confirmed by His Son, Jesus, and sealed by His Holy Spirit. I knew in my heart God was, and would always be, first in my life, but I had also pledged my life to Delta, an idol. If I believed that Delta was not an idol but just a public service organization, then why the secrecy, why take an oath, and why make a lifetime commitment? If I believed that God was Lord of my life and the oath I took to become a Delta were just words, then I didn’t believe in Delta’s oath and should not have become a member. It could only be one way or the other: God or Delta. Once my eyes were opened to the truth, it was God.

For the record, Delta Sigma Theta has done great things in the community, both locally and nationally. I believe Delta did what Jesus commanded: to love God and love others. After all, Delta was founded on Christian principles, right? But that’s where the subtlety of the lies began for me. Because I saw God’s name being used throughout our rituals and the Holy scriptures incorporated into our oath, the truth was hidden from me. I was blinded by what I wanted to believe about Delta. I loved God and wanted to believe the best about Delta. Why would they lie? Who would dare to be so bold as to use God’s name and change His Word for their advantage? (Note: Satan did while with Jesus in the wilderness.) But instead of recognizing and denouncing the lies (as Jesus did), I ignored them because I wanted to believe our organization was Godly. 

But God is a jealous God. His name is Jealous, and He was not going to share me with any other. I am His betrothed, and when I pledged Delta, I became an adulterer. I claimed I belonged to Him, yet I had committed myself to another. While wrestling with being a Delta and serving and honoring God, I stopped attending meetings and other sorority functions. In my mind, I was making things right with God and placing Him first in my life. But what I was really doing was equivalent to a married woman abandoning her husband without divorcing him. I still celebrated being a Delta every year on my Delta anniversary. I still wore the Delta symbols and enjoyed the privileges it afforded me, even though I was not an active member. At the same time, I was trying to grow in my relationship with Christ by studying His Word and saying He was Lord over my life. I was living as a double-minded person and playing the role of a harlot.

I was convicted. God’s Word was clear, but the choice was mine and I chose Him. I renounced and denounced my oath, commitment, and membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and rededicated my life to Christ and Him alone. It was by God’s grace, mercy, and love for me that He allowed me to wake up, repent, and be restored to a covenant relationship with Him. He kept His promise that nothing would ever separate me from His love.

May His will always be done.