Caught on Jumbotron: The Impact of Infidelity
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
A couple’s intimate moment at a Coldplay concert was broadcast on the jumbotron, revealing an alleged affair between Andy Byron, a married CEO, and HR Chief Kristin Cabot. Their actions drew public scrutiny, emphasizing the harm of adultery. The incident highlights the emotional pain for families and the spiritual consequences of infidelity.
Once upon a time, a couple decided to attend a Coldplay concert. They were high in the stands, the woman standing in front of the man, her back to his front, and the man was hugging her tight. They swayed to the music, smiling and relaxed.
Then the camera operator showed the pair on the jumbotron. This is a giant screen that features random audience members up close.
The man and the woman were thus shown Wednesday night, except they were a couple who were not married to each other. In fact, a few seconds after the happy couple saw themselves on screen, he ducked down and she turned away, covering her face with her hands. The man was with a woman who was not his wife. Their demeanor and the way they were holding each other was intimate, leading many to observe they were likely in an adulterous relationship. In fact, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin even said of the scene in the moment, “Whoa, look at these two, either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
The man turned out to be Andy Byron, CEO of Astronomer, a data/tech company. He is married with two children; and the woman was Kristin Cabot, a divorced women employed by the company ‘Astronomer’ since November 2024 as head of Human Resources. (Which is ironic to have a workplace affair with a supervisor, isn’t it?!)
Mr Byron’s wife Megan, who asks to be referred to by her maiden name now, posted this on her Facebook page: (it’s an excerpt)
The company Astronomer said it has launched an investigation into the matter, and it stated both CEO Byron and HR Chief Cabot are on leave.
There are so many things to unpack here for us Christians. Now, the pair who was inadvertently caught in an (alleged) affair are not known to be Christians. If not, then they are pagans who are driven by their lusts and desires, so we cannot hold them to any Godly standard. What I want to say here though, is whether Christian or pagan, adultery HURTS. It is the most hurt a married couple can inflict on one another. Why? Marriage is a holy ordinance instituted by God Himself and declared by His first Adam:
Then the man said,
“At last this is bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ‘woman,’
Because she was taken out of man.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24a).
A marriage between one man and one women, the only biblical and true arrangement of a marriage, merges two people into ONE FLESH. This is the critical point. When a third party inserts itself into the marriage, it violently rips apart the merging of flesh. Divorce finalizes the ripping away of one flesh into two. This is why it hurts so badly. Sexual sins are against the body and the mind and heart.
Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and a marriage is a picture of Christ and His bride.
In addition to the spiritual implications, the hurt doesn’t solely remain with the adults. Imagine the children of the man and the woman waking up to find their (alleged) affair splashed all over the world wide web, with millions, and I mean MILLIONS of views of the crushing moment they see their mom and their dad lacks integrity. Or if they are old enough, to learn that though their mom’s entire profession is to educate people on the inappropriateness of sexual affairs in the workplace between superiors and employees, they learn their mom has been a hypocrite in her personal life. The pain of adultery is incalculable and spreads like red food dye in a waterglass to taint all within its confines.
Thirdly, sins are always uncovered. Always. Galatians 6:7 says,
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
Proverbs 28:13 says, He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Luke 12:2-3 offers a stomach-crunching truth:
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. / What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
If it is embarrassing enough to be exposed by the jumbotron (and they were ashamed and tried to cover their nakedness immediately (Genesis 3:7), but imagine GOD’S jumbotron! To have one’s known and unknown sins revealed at the judgment. Who can stand?!
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer. (Hebrews 4:13).
The only way to avoid shame and spiritually crushing embarrassment is to repent of one’s sins and fall on the mercy of Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven. The only way to have one’s sins, all of them, blotted out and forgiven. The only way to enter His holy habitation of heaven. If not, if no repentance is ever on one’s lips before his last breath passes out of him, one must pay for those sins eternally in hell.
The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. (Proverbs 6:22)
I am sincerely sorry the Byron family had to discover Mr Byron’s adultery in such a public fashion. It hurts. The family is hurting now, as is every family where sexual and professional betrayal had emerged. It happens too often. It happens every day, every week, every month. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a).
But repentance for sin transfers a sinner into the kingdom of Light from the kingdom of darkness. The Holy Spirit is given to us to help us resist the lusts of the flesh, and to spur us to pursue holiness. Ladies (and gentlemen) do not indulge in adultery, fornication, and pornography in deed or in thought. Those sins are devastating to yourself and to those around you, especially the spouse.
