Oh, I had tried to capture this exact thought in my previous two posts labeled Turkish Delight I and II when I wrote about sin being a problem that is so pervasive and accepted. That even slight sins bring forth an even larger domino effect on others. Timothy Keller states so eloquently and with biblical reference here:
Corporate participation. Sinful actions not only shape us, but the people around us. And when we sin we affect those around us, which reproduces sinful patterns—even if more subtle—over generations. So, as in Exodus 20:5, God punishes sin down the generations because usually later generations participate in one form or another in the same sin.[9]
Institutionalized sin. Socially institutionalized ways of life become weighted in favor of the powerful and oppressive over those with less power. Examples include criminal justice systems (Leviticus 19:15), commercial practices such as high-interest loans (Exodus 22:25-27; Jeremiah 22:13), and unfairly low (James 5:4) or delayed wages (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). Once these systems are in place, they do more evil than any one individual within the system may intend or even be aware of.
From Timothy Keller Gospel In Life
It’s important to understand the depth to which our actions or even in-actions can shape us, our community, and have long-lasting effects on people. This is more readily seen in the family when you have an abusive parent and the children themselves either become abusive or learn to accept abuse as their norm. This is part of the generational sin that we must not be held captive. But in today’s society, this problem is so often seen as an individual problem, but this is not Biblically correct. Because if we adhere to the standards set forth in the Bible, we see that because we are meant to be in relationships with our community, it means that we should be in relationship with those around us to correct those that are astray of God’s law and God’s moral intent. Without having that community, we have failed to intercede on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ, allowing for this sin to take place, but also allowing for the sin to take hold and become generational sin. We also walk in that sin, too and have to be responsible for it. This is why we have to think long and hard about who we are and who we want to be according to the Gospel, because if we don’t, the world will shape us, instead, and we won’t even realize it. We will be swept up in the current of the culture instead of the words of the Gospel.
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