While it is true that we are all to some extent dysfunctional because sin is dysfunction, this word as used in the contemporary culture means that anybody and everybody but me is responsible for my problem.  No one is more maligned by this view of life than are our parents.  Dysfunction says, "Don't hold me accountable for my problems.  Blame my dad, or my mom, or my husband, or my kids--anybody but me."  I have come to the conclusion that what is causing our problems is not what happened to us in the past, because the past is over.  Rather it is the bitterness and resentment that we carry into our everyday lives.  Whether or not the gospel did or will impact my parents is between them and God.  But whether I will let the gospel influence my life, scarred though it may be, is a decision I must make for myself.