My parents divorced when I was three… or four… something like that.  I don’t know, I was little.  Now that I’m older I know about  some of the events that lead up to that divorce.  I don’t know all the stories of pain, violence, infidelity, or whatever, but I know that it was a mess.  Enough of a mess for it to need to end.  And let’s face it, who doesn’t have a mess to some degree in their life?  Anyone my age or younger knows the ripple affect of a broken home, abuse, neglect or things like that.  Who doesn’t have drama from their upbringing, right?

But here’s where I start getting real passionate.  I had a pretty amazing guy step in and take the roll of my dad.  To this day he’s one of the closest people to me in my life.  Does that mean I don’t have life-long drama from the handful of years that I was alive without him?  Nope.  Does that mean that I didn’t grow up with the ‘awkwardness’ of having two dads?  Nope.  Or having to be the decision maker of where I was going to live?  Or what last names my wife and kids were going to have?  But I’m going to be honest.  I had a pretty great upbringing.  It was safe, it was healthy, and it was exactly what I needed as a kid and now adult with my own kids.

And here’s the thing.  We live in a generation of people looking for any excuse possible to blame their selfish actions on what we’ve conveniently named ‘Generational Sin’.  I could blame  any of my actions on the broken home that I came from.  The dad that wasn’t around, the frustrations of Summer Vacations away from my friends, weirdness of having to explain who that guy is at my graduation.  All that.  I could sit back and not take ownership of any of it.  And that’s exactly what we do right?

“This is what my parents did, so it’s natural.”  ”I’m an alcoholic because my dad was.”  ”I treat women badly because that’s what I saw growing up.  It’s in my blood.”  ”I’m a manipulator because my mom cheated.”  ”I’ve got a temper that I inherited from my dad.”  The list goes on.  It’s the easiest out right?  We want to blame our selfish, screwed up lives on something biological.  It’s something we can’t change.  It’s the way we are wired.  Really?  Let’s take a look.  *I’ve added the “bold”*.

Jeremiah 31:29-32 (NIV)
In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes–his own teeth will be set on edge. “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers…”

Ezekiel 18:14-16,18-20 (NIV)
“But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things: He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel… He does not oppress anyone… He does not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked… He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.“

Well crap.  There goes that theory I guess.  Looks like I’m going to have to answer for myself when I treat my kids badly.  Looks like it actually is my fault when I selfishly go against what I know is right.  Seems like there really is no excuse for living like a jerk.

Okay, that last paragraph was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but you get the idea.  So, I want to hear what you guys think.  I’ve never  really had an open discussion about “Generational Sin” and my opinions on it, with anyone but Kristin.  She knows it’s something that has always bothered me, but I don’t know if it’s just me.  The thing is, I don’t buy it.  I refuse to accept the excuse from anyone that there’s some magical blood running though our bodies that causes us to not be able to control our own selfish actions.  It’s not our great-great-great grandfather’s fault that we act the way we do.  It’s not the chemical make-up of my DNA that causes me to treat people badly.  It’s selfishness and sin.  Bottom line.  Unless I’m missing something in these verses.

So what do we think?  I know it’s a little heavy of a topic, but I’m curious your thoughts.

Ready?  Go.