Generational Sin in Churches Part 2

Picking up the theme from the previous post, I want to further explore the question of generational sin in churches. “Generational sin” is a construct that has gained notoriety of late, but it is usually used in terms of sin passed down by family members. However, addressing generational sin in churches is of utmost importance. If Jesus holds the sins of previous leaders on the balance sheet of current leaders – it explains much of the malaise we see in churches.

Does Jesus hold churches accountable from generation to generation, as David was responsible for the sins of Saul (2 Sam 21), or how subsequent kings were liable for the sins of Jeroboam?

These questions never enter the minds of Western believers because of our cultural bias. We see little connection between the generations due to our hyper focus on rugged individualism. Yet, both the Old Testament and Jesus held that one generation could inherit their fathers’ sinful baggage and is accountable for rectifying it.

In Matthew 23, Jesus takes the Pharisees to the woodshed, and amidst the “woes” he laid on them, we read the following:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. (Mt. 23:29-32).

Jesus saw a generational link between the fathers who killed the prophets and the Pharisees (sons) who were out to get Him. The Pharisees acknowledged the bad behavior of their fathers but failed to break the cycle by repenting of their forefathers’ behavior. Instead, they distanced themselves from it in much the same way the son or daughter of an alcoholic vows never to drink alcohol. Learned behavior, however modeled by parents and grandparents, is hard to break. The Pharisees would “fill up the measure” of their fathers’ guilt by crucifying Jesus. Their lineage doomed them to repeat their fathers’ behavior.

In Stephen’s dying message before the Jewish Council, he described how the Jewish religious leaders fulfilled Jesus’ prediction:

You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. (Acts 7:51-52)

Stephen confirms the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesy about the Pharisees shedding the blood of those who came to them with a Divine message, namely Christ Himself. But this type of thinking is odd to many North American believers and they sometimes refer to certain passages to deny accountability for the sins of our fathers in the church.

Some believers point to Jeremiah and Ezekiel to refute that such an intergenerational connection still exists. To substantiate their perspective, they misinterpret the following “sour grapes” passages which both prophets recorded:

In those days, they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes his teeth will be set on edge. (Jer. 31:29-30)

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son, is Mine. The soul who sins will die.’ (Ez. 18:1-4)

On the surface, these passages suggest that God is doing away with intergenerational accountability. However, that is not what these passages mean. They do not imply that God suspends His discipline over generational behavior (Ex. 20:5-6; Ps. 103:17-18). The killing of children for the sins of their parents was already prohibited in Scripture (Deut. 24:16).  Rather, they corrected a false notion held by the Jews facing exile. They complained that they were paying for their fathers’ sins, not their own. They came up with the proverb to protest God’s discipline of them.

What if God is disciplining your church because of unaddressed sin and wounds in your congregational history? If your ministry is struggling, it would be normal to attribute it to Satan as so many congregations do. But what if Satan’s supposed activity in your church is merely a tool like the Assyrians or Babylonians who led Israel into exile? Failing to recognize the possibility that God has an issue with your church, one rooted in your generational history, can lead to its slow demise – just as it did Israel.

But exile or nonexistence need not be the outcome. Dealing with generational sin cleanses your church’s corporate heart before God. If you suspect the root of your church’s current struggles are in the past, ask God to help you recognize it and repent before your resources run completely dry.

Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries which works to heal ministries with painful histories. The above article is excepted from Mark’s Book, The Corporate Church: Why We Need to Get our House in Order.