Article December 8, 1997 Issue

Belonging to a fraternity

Clifford Kapps Eriksen

Nobody likes to feel rejected—to feel that others are popular, but he or she isn't. That kind of feeling leads to a lack of self-esteem and to resentment. Paul discovered this fact while he was at college, but he also learned how loving others in the way Jesus taught removes this burden.

Although he always had close friends, Paul was shy, never one of the really popular people in high school. So, being invited to join a college fraternity in his freshman year seemed like the best thing that had ever happened to him, especially since social life at his college revolved mostly around fraternities. But there he was, a year later, being asked to resign in front of the whole fraternity because the officers said he didn't contribute anything meaningful to the group!

He knew that this simply wasn't true; he'd fulfilled his responsibilities, supported all fraternity activities, helped with academics, even sponsored new members. So many feelings were bombarding him all at once. He was hurt, angry, and confused. What had he done wrong? He left the meeting for a few minutes in order to think over all that was happening.

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