Fraternity Trophies Stolen
by Tyler Zach
It was a quiet weekend night in my old fraternity house.
Most of the members were either gone or asleep. The front door is usually locked, but on this night it was ajar. Two members from another rival fraternity snuck in to see if the President was home. They soon realized that no one was out and about. After having been drinking all night, they thought it would be funny to steal over a dozen of the chapter’s trophies and plaques and then return them later – as a joke.
A few of the items were returned later, but many more items are still missing. There is an ongoing debate now to find out if these two fraternity guys stole all of the missing items.
Either way, I hope that justice is served to whomever was involved. The point I’m going to make isn’t about stealing, but about the trophies themselves.
It can be very easy to place a lot of value on our prized possessions. And when these possessions or trophies are taken away from us, we lose that sense of value. This should make us stop and think about whether our hard work was accomplished for the things that are seen (worldly trophies) or the things that are unseen (eternal inheritance).
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18
While working hard with perseverance to accomplish victory after victory in every avenue on campus is a noble thing, if the trophies become the end to which we strive for and the object obtained in order that we may boast of our greatness – then we have already strived for the wrong thing. Because once those trophies are taken away (the very things we devoted all our hard work to), then we are left with empty hearts.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” – Mathew 6:19-20
In high school, I went after every track medal, speech medal, wrestling medal, football trophy, and academic certificate I could get my hands on! I wanted to prove to everyone that I was a hard worker who deserved a lot of attention. I did work very hard which was noble, but I did those things mostly for self gain.
If I could go back...I would try to devote more time to relationships with friends and classmates - serving them, loving them, and sharing the truth with them. Those are the things that will last forever and the things I will get eternal rewards for.
"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." - Matthew 16:27
Once again, I hope that justice is served and that there are consequences for the thieves. However, our motives and our passions can be evaluated through this experience as well!
It was a quiet weekend night in my old fraternity house.
Most of the members were either gone or asleep. The front door is usually locked, but on this night it was ajar. Two members from another rival fraternity snuck in to see if the President was home. They soon realized that no one was out and about. After having been drinking all night, they thought it would be funny to steal over a dozen of the chapter’s trophies and plaques and then return them later – as a joke.
A few of the items were returned later, but many more items are still missing. There is an ongoing debate now to find out if these two fraternity guys stole all of the missing items.
Either way, I hope that justice is served to whomever was involved. The point I’m going to make isn’t about stealing, but about the trophies themselves.
It can be very easy to place a lot of value on our prized possessions. And when these possessions or trophies are taken away from us, we lose that sense of value. This should make us stop and think about whether our hard work was accomplished for the things that are seen (worldly trophies) or the things that are unseen (eternal inheritance).
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18
While working hard with perseverance to accomplish victory after victory in every avenue on campus is a noble thing, if the trophies become the end to which we strive for and the object obtained in order that we may boast of our greatness – then we have already strived for the wrong thing. Because once those trophies are taken away (the very things we devoted all our hard work to), then we are left with empty hearts.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” – Mathew 6:19-20
In high school, I went after every track medal, speech medal, wrestling medal, football trophy, and academic certificate I could get my hands on! I wanted to prove to everyone that I was a hard worker who deserved a lot of attention. I did work very hard which was noble, but I did those things mostly for self gain.
If I could go back...I would try to devote more time to relationships with friends and classmates - serving them, loving them, and sharing the truth with them. Those are the things that will last forever and the things I will get eternal rewards for.
"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." - Matthew 16:27
Once again, I hope that justice is served and that there are consequences for the thieves. However, our motives and our passions can be evaluated through this experience as well!
posted by Tyler Zach at 9:44 AM
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