There’s a conversation the Church has avoided for far too long.
A conversation that affects pulpits, congregations, spiritual authority, and the very integrity of our witness as believers.
And that conversation is this:
What happens when pastors and church leaders — the very people assigned to shepherd God’s flock — are members of fraternities and sororities?
Most people never question it. Some even celebrate it.
Some even flaunt their affiliation as if it’s a badge of honor.
But the question we must ask is:
What does God say about it? What does Scripture reveal about divided allegiance?
And why does the enemy work so hard to influence those who influence the Church?
Because here’s the truth…
Pastors are not just community leaders.
They’re not motivational speakers.
They are ministry gifts from God — spiritual shepherds whose lives and choices carry real spiritual weight.
And when a pastor joins an organization built on secret oaths, pagan symbolism, and spiritual covenants, it doesn’t just impact them.
It impacts everyone they lead.
Today, we’re going to walk through 1) what a pastor actually is according to Scripture, 2) How spiritual leaders can be wrong, 3) How Satan strategically uses influence to deceive many, 4) And what the Bible has to say about leaders who misrepresent God to His people.
This won’t be a light conversation — but it will be a necessary one.
Because the truth doesn’t just set people free…
It exposes the bondage they didn’t know they were in.
So let’s dive in.
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What is a Pastor
To society a pastor is someone who leads a church and they may or may not preach the gospel. If the church is large and can pay their pastor a salary, then they would likely add more things to this definition.
I looked up some job announcements for pastoral positions just to kind of shed some light on what this looks like. Here’s a description of a Senior Pastor position for a church outside of Houston, Texas.
It says, the senior pastor will serve as the spiritual and organizational leader of the church. The role includes preaching, teaching, pastoral leadership, administrative oversight, and collaborative leadership alongside the elder board. The Senior Pastor will guide the church in its mission to glorify God by making disciples who know Christ, grow in Him, and go into the world with the Gospel.
Here are the qualifications they are looking for in an applicant.
- Theological degree from Dallas Theological Seminary or equivalent institution
- Minimum 10 years of ministry experience, including at least 5 years as a senior or associate pastor
- Strong commitment to the authority of Scripture and a grace-oriented theological perspective
- Passion for discipleship and teaching
- Proven leadership and administration/management skills
- Demonstrated heart for outreach and evangelism
- Agreement with the doctrine and constitution of that specific church
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
I know this may be shocking to hear, but these qualifications and metrics are not God’s standard for pastors nor is it how a person actually becomes a pastor in the eyes of God.
In the kingdom of God, the word pastor is not just a title or job. It is an office someone is appointed to by Jesus.
For this to make sense, I need to lay a foundation regarding the government of God really quickly. When Jesus Christ came to the earth in the flesh the main message he preached, more than even salvation, was about the kingdom of God.
Jesus opened his public ministry by announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15) and he continued emphasizing this theme throughout his teaching. He instructed his followers to “seek ye first the kingdom of God,” and he declared that his mission was to preach the kingdom of God. And what is the kingdom of God?? It’s God’s governmental system.
The goal of God is to extend his government into the earth so that heaven and earth are aligned. All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus, and Jesus delegates and distributes that authority based on a few factors like the growth of an individual, their spiritual maturity as well as natural maturity, their obedience, and the office they sit in.
In Ephesians 4, we actually get to see Jesus designating offices in this government.
It says, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” Ephesians 4:7-8; 11, NJKV.
God, through Jesus, appoints people to these fivefold offices for them to oversee components of his business in furtherance of his kingdom expansion. These are his officers. They are the five expressions of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and it is from THIS place that pastors are birthed.
Now, the word that we translated into the English word pastor is the Greek word poimēn. (poy-mane). It means a shepherd which is a person to whose care and control others have committed themselves and whose precepts they follow. This word is also used when referring to the presiding officer of Christian assemblies similar to how Christ is the Head of the Church.
God tells us in Jeremiah 3:15, NASB that he will give us shepherds after His own heart who will feed us knowledge and understanding.
These shepherds are people who are loyal to God and the knowledge they are to share is not just information they learned here and there, in theology or divinity school, or business books. No. They are to share the knowledge of God.
1 Peter 5 gives even more insight on those who have been trusted to shepherd God’s flock. It says that they are to shepherd “…not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” 1 Peter 5:2-4, CSB.
There are MANY people who lord their resumes or their pastor’s resume as a reason why they are doctrinally correct about fraternities and sororities, but this is all for not. Because in the word of God, when it comes to who is qualified to be a pastor, there is no seminary requirement, theological studies requirement, minimum years of ministry training or experience. None of that. The word of God says that Jesus appoints them.
I think this paints a clear picture that not everyone who calls themself a pastor is a pastor in the eyes of God. Jeremiah 23:13-18; 21-22.
What vacancy announcements like the one I read above ends up doing, is it feeds into a structured format of producing people who are “eligible” to be a pastor. The problem with that is when the enemy sees a structure “he can invade it, defile it, corrupt it, and pollute it.” – Dan Duval
This leads me to my next point, which is that pastors can be wrong.
Pastors can be wrong
Even though pastors hold offices in the church, they remain human which means they are subject to error. Their position doesn’t exempt them from deception or rebellion. Even some of the very elect will be deceived according to scripture.
There are multiple reasons why pastors can be wrong, and as you can see some of the people we call pastors aren’t even appointed by God. They fit the requirements established by the church so they get the job, which means there is margin for error there.
But let’s look at some scriptural instances of church leaders being wrong so we can see the precedent for this occurrence.
Biblical Examples
First is Peter who denied Christ (Luke 22:61) and later acted hypocritically by separating himself from the Gentiles. (Galatians 2:11–13). This was completely opposite of God’s desires for the church.
Another example is Eli the priest who tolerated his son’s sins, which caused him to lose God’s favor (1 Samuel 2:29).
The last example is King Saul who disobeyed God’s direct instruction and lost the kingdom of Israel to King David (1 Samuel 15:22–23). We don’t just have examples in scripture of church leaders and chosen leaders by God getting it wrong, we have God discussing the errors of leaders as well.
In Jeremiah 50:6, CSB God says, “My people were lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray, guiding them the wrong way in the mountains. They wandered from mountain to hill; they forgot their resting place.”
Jeremiah 2:8, CSB shows how everyone who should’ve known better didn’t do what they were supposed to do and went against God. This included the priests and the prophets.
Jeremiah 2:37 – the Lord has rejected those who you trust…
Satanic Agents
There is an element regarding pastors and church leaders that a lot of people haven’t even considered and I am not sure why. That element is the fact that there are SOME pastors who are compromised.
What do I mean when I say that some pastors are compromised? First, let’s define the word. Compromised means impaired or diminished in function; it means weakened, damaged, or flawed.
It is also used to describe someone who has been revealed as OR they are suspected of being disreputable and untrustworthy.
When I say that some pastors are compromised I mean that they have decided to partner with the agenda of Satan in some way shape form which makes them disreputable and untrustworthy.
There are levels to this type of compromise. I’m going to focus on two. There’s the satanic plant and the satanic pawn.
● Satanic Plant.
When it comes to compromised pastors and church leaders, the satanic plant is a pastor or church leader who is intentionally deceiving and misleading Christians. They knowingly work for the other side. God’s word talks about these kinds of leaders.
In Jeremiah 23:11, CSB God says. “because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in my house I have found their evil. This is the Lord’s declaration.
Matthew 7:15 says, “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 says, “There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.3 They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories…”
The Satanic Plant poses a serious threat because they do a great job of manipulating and misguiding people. Author Dean Inserra compiled a list of what this type of plant does in his book The Unsaved Christian. I highly recommend this book by the way. But the list is based on how scripture describes the activities of false leaders. Here’s what they do… they
- Create division (Romans 16:17).
- Deceive with flattery (Romans 16:18)
- They intentionally distort the gospel of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:7).
- Appease people by departing from sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3).
- Lead people astray (Matthew 24:11-13).
- Take people captive through bad philosophy and theology (Colossians 2:8)
- Seem to have spiritual power and authority so that they can deceive even the very elect (Matthew 24:24).
● Satanic Pawn.
The next type of compromised leader is the Satanic Pawn. A pawn is someone that can be used to further the purposes of another. The Satanic Pawn doesn’t typically overtly deceive God’s people by making a known false claim, instead, one of two things tends to happen.
One, the enemy convinces them to intentionally NOT teach certain biblical truths in exchange for some form of benefit. The content is usually going to be a supernatural topic. This can look like, “hey, don’t teach on prayer or don’t teach on altars.”
The benefit could be that Satan will not attack in a specific way but the most common benefit is Satan will offer something the person really wants, wealth, fame, a larger church, access, etc.
The other method is that the enemy will convince a pastor or church leader not to teach certain truths and the convincing is without their conscious awareness of what is happening. The enemy sends demons to minister to them to guide them into wrong thinking about a biblical truth.
This can look like, “hey, don’t have this person as a guest on your podcast or don’t let this person preach on your platform.” Stephanie Ike Okafur shared how she was approached by Satan and asked not to teach on the Holy Spirit. She didn’t listen and continued to teach but had she submitted to satan and stopped teaching that topic, she would have fallen into this category. Here’s a clip of Don Dickerman talking about his experience with this.
This is problematic but there are pastors and leaders who do this. And then they’re likely thinking, oh this isn’t that bad. All I have to do is not teach this ONE topic. Other people are teaching it so the information will get out. Just not through me.” Please understand that this person is dangerous. They are indoctrinating people into being lukewarm and turning them into the modern day church of Laodicea.
Although, one of these may seem less culpable than the other, please understand that they are both satanic agents. They are both being used by the devil to further his agenda in one way, shape, or form.
When spiritual leaders are wrong, their error multiplies through influence. So much information is transferred by way of word of mouth. When a church leader communicates a compromising message from their platform on Sunday people often follow the leader’s compromise rather than the Word of God.
So when you are evaluating whether to stay in a fraternity or sorority based on your pastor or leader being in one or based on their position that being in one is okay, then understand that there is a chance they genuinely just don’t know and there is also a chance that you may be following a compromised leader.
Pastor is Wrong
Now that we know pastors can be wrong and they actually do get it wrong, I can say that pastors in fraternities and sororities are wrong.
The root issue is covenant conflict. Fraternities and sororities require oaths, rituals, pledges, and spiritual commitments that are rooted in Greek, Roman, and Egyptian deities and pagan ritualism. These oaths invoke spiritual powers that are not of God. When pastors endorse these organizations by being members, they normalize and cosign idolatry and spiritual compromise. They effectively teach that it’s possible to mix light with darkness, the holy with the profane. This is spiritual adultery.
And the deception is subtle because fraternities and sororities cloak bondage in language like brotherhood, sisterhood, service, scholarship and excellence. But “all warfare is based on deception,” and Satan uses beauty and belonging to disguise bondage.
This is hard to grasp because a lot of pastors and church leaders who are in these organizations are very anointed and gifted. Do you know who else is anointed though? Satan.
Ezekiel 28:14, CSB tells us that he was an anointed guardian cherub.
A pastor can be anointed yet deceived. Remember that Samson still had the supernatural strength of the spirit of the Lord while in rebellion. He was sleeping with a prostitute which is completely outside of the will of God. Yet he still had access to the spirit of the lord’s power to do supernatural things— until the Spirit of the Lord left him (Judges 16:20). Leaders are able to operate in the anointing while separated from truth.
UK Preacher James Aladiran has a good illustration of this. He equated church leaders to being like an iron plugged into an electrical outlet that allows it to heat up. The electrical outlet is God and the iron is the church leader. If the iron is unplugged from the electrical outlet, it will remain hot for a while before it cools down. This is how church leaders and lay Christians in general are. It takes a long time before a pastor or church leader’s compromise is noticeable to the general public.
But let’s explore why Satan uses pastors and church leaders to be members of these organizations, because in case you haven’t noticed A LOT of pastors and church leaders have joined a fraternity or sorority recently.
Why Does Satan Use Pastors and Church Leaders
Satan intentionally and strategically uses pastors and church leaders as representatives in fraternities and sororities. Here’s why…
1. Strategic Infiltration.
One reason is because it’s an effective form of strategic infiltration. Satan doesn’t need to destroy the Church from the outside if he can corrupt it from within. If he can influence the shepherd, most sheep will follow willingly into deception.
In the book, He Came to Set the Captives Free, author Rebecca Brown breaks down Satan’s plans for the Christian Church. If you’ve never read the book, the author was a medical doctor in an area in the Midwest where a very high ranking demonic cult full of Satanists had a lot of influence.
These weren’t just people who worshipped Satan. They were people who met with Satan face to face, developed plans and strategies with him, and then did his bidding. One of her patients ended up being a member of this cult and was one of Satan’s brides. She led this patient through months of deliverance and documented their journey in this book that was published in 1992.
The book reveals that one of Satan’s main goals for the church is to make it look like the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation. This church is mentioned in chapter 3:14-19. Here’s what Jesus says about it. He tells John the Revelator…
“Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3: 14-17, CSB
With this goal of lukewarmness in mind, the Satanists developed an 8 point plan of attack that could be adapted to whatever denomination of church they infiltrated—Baptist, Methodist, AME, whatever. And here’s the thing, they don’t just send anyone. They send the most high ranking Satanists to attend these churches regularly.
Here are the eight points in their plan: 1) Make a profession of faith. Jesus saved me; 2) Build credibility. Volunteer and give regularly. Become the main supporters of the church financially; 3) Destroy the prayer base. Knock prayer out of the church; 4) Rumors; 5) Teach and change doctrine; 6) Break up family units; 7) Stop all accurate teaching about Satan; 8)Direct attack by witchcraft against key members of the church.
Looking at this plan, I can see where compromised church leaders can be used. They kind of automatically already have credibility built in just by nature of being on the platform ministering. They are also in the BEST position to teach and change doctrine which brings me to my next point. Satan uses members of fraternities and sororities as pastors and church leaders because they shape doctrine.
2. Pastors Shape Doctrine.
Pastors shape doctrine, and doctrine shapes destiny. Satan targets leaders because their error carries generational consequences across multiple bloodlines. This shaping of doctrine includes them not accurately or comprehensively teaching about Satan.
Think about it. Pastors in fraternities and sororities do not teach about Satan or his activities with any kind of real depth. They will mention him just enough to identify that he is operating but no real in-depth explanations of the spiritual things related to his operations like open doors, altars, covenants, curses, second heaven and ground warfare, etc. These churches typically do not have deliverance ministries that cast out devils nor do they typically minister the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
3. Deception Through Influence.
- Another reason satan likes for pastors and church leaders to be in fraternities and sororities is because he is able to deceive others just by nature of the pastor or church leader having influence over others. Remember that one of the points of the Satanists 8 point plan of attack was to establish credibility. The enemy often uses reputation, success, and education to justify sin. A pastor who is admired academically or socially but compromised spiritually becomes a powerful false witness for the kingdom of darkness.
When I read the comments of denouncing posts, I often see comments where someone is mentioning their theological qualifications or the qualifications of someone they know who is in a fraternity or sorority as support for the organization being of God. They are basically saying, they know better than you because they have been training to read the Bible or because they have experience in church. But NONE of that matters when it comes to spiritual things.
In the kingdom of God, influence is not neutral — it carries spiritual weight. Pastors and church leaders hold a unique kind of influence because their authority comes with assumed spiritual legitimacy. People listen to them, trust them, and model their behavior because they believe the pastor’s lifestyle reflects God’s will. Here’s the thing, that influence becomes spiritual currency in the hands of whoever controls the pastor’s belief system, whether that be God or Satan.
Satan understands this better than believers do. If he can capture the influencer, then he has captured those who are being influenced.
Satan rarely uses obvious enemies to deceive the Church. He uses respected voices, beloved leaders, popular pastors, admired academics, influential bishops, culturally celebrated ministers, and socially active pastors.
Why? Because deception works best when it comes from someone people trust.
This trust allows these leaders to speak with spiritual authority—but from a compromised foundation, and people mistake their confidence for truth.
This trust allows these leaders to teach error from the pulpit. Even if not intentionally, their life BECOMES the sermon.
This trust allows the leader’s fruit to lead others into deception because people imitate what they admire.
4. To defile the church.
Another reason Satan uses pastors and church leaders as representatives of fraternities and sororities is to defile the church. Jeremiah 7:30, CSB says, “The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it.” Jeremiah 23:11.
Defile means to become unclean and impure. This uncleanliness can be accomplished sexually, religiously/ceremonially, or by idolatry. The book of Leviticus goes into GREAT detail about holiness and what is required in order to cleanse something that has been defiled and deemed religiously and ceremonially unclean. It can seem like this book of the Bible is dry but what sticks out to me is all of the
Here’s why this is important. The Bible shows that unclean, defiled people can transmit their condition to whatever they touched.
One of the things that defilement brings is destruction (Micah 2:10, NASB). And what is Satan’s ultimate agenda?… to kill, steal, and DESTROY.
Judgment
What do you do with this information?
●Take it back to God and be open to what He reveals.
- The Bible has so many verses about how God would reveal something to His people, we’re not talking about those in the world who are lost, but God’s people who should know His voice… There are so many verses that talk about how God would reveal truth to these people and they would reject it. Not only would they reject God’s truth and instructions but they would exalt their own feelings and desires above God’s word, especially in Jeremiah chapters 5-7. (see Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 5:12, Jeremiah 5:30-31, Jeremiah 6:16-17; 19; Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 7:24-26.
- In these scriptures we see God’s people refusing, contradicting, insisting, rejecting, and protesting against the God they claim to be following.
● We pray for these leaders until God tells us to stop
- Because there does come a time when God commands His people NOT to pray for a group of people and it’s usually when those people are in idolatry and refuse to obey God. There is actual legal Biblical precedent for this.
In Jeremiah 7, these people were collaboratively working together to offer sacrifices to another god who called herself the queen of heaven. Ishtar. Their idolatry was elaborate. And in verse 16, God says, “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me, for I will not listen to you.”
- See also Jeremiah 11:11-14; 17
Want More?
If you enjoyed this episode, then you may also enjoy the episode of the show about the fear of success and how it hinders purpose or this episode detailing what to expect when operating in your purpose.
Resources Mentioned
- The Unsaved Christian by Dean Inserra
- He Came to Set the Captives Free by Rebecca Brown
- Full interview of Don Dickerma
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