{"id":201,"date":"2011-12-05T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/how-to-bear-good-fruit-from-an-imperfect-family-tree\/"},"modified":"2011-12-05T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T13:00:00","slug":"how-to-bear-good-fruit-from-an-imperfect-family-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/how-to-bear-good-fruit-from-an-imperfect-family-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"How to bear good fruit from an imperfect family tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
He was called a bastard son.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was outrageous really. His mother was just a young teen. The father was much older and there hadn\u2019t been a marriage.\u00a0The tongues wagged, clicking at the impropriety. And the angel story really was a stretch. The baby\u2019s lineage wasn\u2019t much better. It was filled with incredible scandal. Instead of a lush family tree, with lovely branches and perfect leaves, it was crooked.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Go back a few generations and you\u2019d find murder, adultuery, debaucherou and prostitution. Liars and thieves populated the ranks. And while there were good, God-fearing people in his past, it seems that everyone wanted to focus on the faulty predecessors. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The fruit doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree, they said. The kid probably wouldn\u2019t amount to much.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He wasn\u2019t the only one with black sheep in the family pasture.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve been privy to some family history myself lately. With both my parents gone, I\u2019ve been able to look in the dusty trunks, unfolding papers and memories. I\u2019ve scanned hundreds of photos tucked in crumbling albums, trying to catch a glimmer of those that went before me. I\u2019ve learned about my great aunt who was a fashion model, gracing the cover of magazines.\u00a0 And then there was her sister, who had the distinction of being \u00a0a tattoo lady in a circus. And don\u2019t forget my grandmother, who danced in front of sailors for a living. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My grandfather died in a Veteran\u2019s Hospital, his skin yellow with liver failure. You can guess the life he led. He still loved deep, despite his addiction.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My father had a secret marriage and child before he met my mother. I don\u2019t know what happened to either of them. I never even knew they existed, a topic apparently whitewashed from our home. \u00a0My parents divorced sometime after I was conceived. And then remarried. I didn\u2019t know that either.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At some point, both my parents found Jesus and tried to raise a family that would be different. They tried so hard to do the right thing. I\u2019m so grateful they did.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This Jesus they found \u2013 the one I spoke about earlier with the terrible family history \u2013 inserted himself right into this human muck. He came from a pretty good place, and picked imperfection to live a life. That\u2019s why he understands all of this.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There is real beauty in this adoption that I\u2019m experiencing. God loves me as His son and took me in. I\u2019m not the perfect little kid that everyone wishes were theirs. I\u2019m the one with the dirty face, the ugly past and the future that doesn\u2019t look so promising either.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Yet, He takes me as I am. I\u2019m amazed.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a reminder that my earthly bloodline doesn\u2019t have to trump my heavenly destiny. There isn\u2019t some sort of rut that I have to follow just because of my name, or my lineage<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I knew a guy who drank heavily \u2013 and said it was because his dad did first. And we see it all the time.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n<\/a>Parents who beat their kids, learning it from their parents. Joblessness, cheating, abuse and adultery often seem to run in the family.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But there is voice that echoes in our heads that says, \u201cStop it. You don\u2019t have to live that way.\u201d<\/b> And that goes for my kids too. They don\u2019t have to mimic my bad ways either.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The family tree might just be able to produce some good fruit yet.\n

Care to comment? Click here.<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\nConnecting with Michelle at <\/span><\/em>Hear It On Sunday, Use it on Monday<\/span><\/em><\/a>. Thanks to <\/span><\/em>Chad Bruggerman<\/span><\/em><\/a> for the sermon inspiration, \u201cDue Date.\u201d<\/span><\/em>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He was called a bastard son.\u00a0 It was outrageous really. His mother was just a young teen. The father was much older and there hadn\u2019t been a marriage.\u00a0The tongues wagged, clicking at the impropriety. And the angel story really was a stretch. The baby\u2019s lineage wasn\u2019t much better. It was filled with incredible scandal. Instead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,388,500,804],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-family-tree","category-heritage","category-lineage","category-sin-in-the-family"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to bear good fruit from an imperfect family tree<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He was called a bastard son.\u00a0 It was outrageous really. His mother was just a young teen. 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