Could Coldplay’s viral moment lead to grace?

If you’re anything like me, you’re already familiar with the Coldplay concert tidal wave that swept over last week. Andy Byron, CEO of AI company, Astronomer, and his Chief People (HR) Officer, Kristin Cabot, were captured on a kisscam at a Coldplay concert, held at the 65,000+ seat Gilette Stadium in Boston.

When the couples’ tender embrace was highlighted on the Jumbotron before 50,000 fans, their faces appeared shocked; their cosy body language immediately changed. Cabot reeled completely away from Byron, covering her face, while he ineffectively ducked down out of view of the camera. The couple’s unexpected, completely conspicious reaction lead Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, to say what every fan in the audience must have been thinking. “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”

And just like that, a viral moment was created.

And just like that, a viral moment was created. By the next day, social media feeds were rampant with memes featuring the couple’s faux pas of international proportions. What was probably their most protected secret became headline news, literally.

READ MORE: GREAT SEXPECTATIONS: My husband had an affair and now says he is allergic to me and can’t touch me

Let me be first to say, I realise infidelity is not a laughing matter. I was born into the middle of an unexposed adulterous affair that would come to rock (and ruin) my own parents’ marriage. One of my very close friends is currently living and raising children through the wreckage of marital infidelity, in often excrutiatingly real time. I didn’t repost the many, often hysterical, memes of the Coldplay concert debacle out of insensitivity.

Byron’s wife and mother to their children, Megan, almost immediately after her husband’s affair was publicised, removed her married surname from her Facebook account, and perhaps tellingly, left the comments on. There’s a little satisfaction found in knowing the unjust have been exposed. If I’m honest, I’m even a little reassured, in this day of seeming shamelessness over most sins, the sin of adultery still holds resonance across the wider culture.

If I’m honest, I’m even a little reassured, in this day of seeming shamelessness over most sins, the sin of adultery still holds resonance across the wider culture.

READ MORE: My husband had an affair with my best friend, here is how God helped me find happiness again

I think the most pertinent question to ask in all this is, what will our reaction will be when our sins are exposed? Jesus taught in Luke 8:17 that every secret hidden in darkness will one day come to light. Here’s what he taught Nicodemus in John 3:18-21:

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

READ MORE: Healing after an affair

Take a moment and think of your most deeply held secret. In my past I’ve had moments worse than Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot that I definitely wouldn’t want exposed. But God already knows them. The difference for believers is we can freely live in the light with confidence, if we repent, we can be forgiven, and even our worst sins are covered. My darkest disgrace has been turned into a testament of God’s rich mercy and kindness because of Jesus’ forgiveness and redemption. God’s grace and Holy Spirit empower us to live free of the bondage of sin, lives of living righteously. I’m praying all those involved in this viral moment will come to find this same grace.