WS#5 - Our Celestial Coldplay Moment - Luke 12.2-3

Every document we sign, every website we connect to, we are asked to sign a paper or check a box acknowledging what level of privacy we expect. Cookies are not what they used to be. In this episode, Ed talks about the moment His train of thought was suddenly stopped in its tracks. Seeing the reactions of one couple the moment they saw their intimate relationship broadcast to the whole world is a reminder of Jesus's words in Luke 12.2-3. He says the words we whisper will be shouted from the rooftops, no secret will be left unrevealed. Is that really going to happen? Will we be caught unprepared like the couple at the Coldplay concert?

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Transcript

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Greetings. I'm Ed Potter here with God's word for our world. And another whistle stop on my train of thought. What secrets are you careful to hide? What would you do if your friends and family discovered the truth about you? How would you react if that illicit relationship you've managed to keep secret from your family, your church, and your co-workers was suddenly broadcast for the whole world to see? That actually happened to a couple at a Coldplay concert a year ago. And it stopped my train of thought in its tracks. Why? Because that's what Jesus said is going to happen to every one of us, and that includes me. Now what? Their feeling of shame was obvious. She hid her face in her hands and turned her back to the camera. He ducked down out of sight behind the row of stadium seats, but too late. The video clip was only a few seconds long, but long enough for them to be recognized, and thanks to social media. Not only the thousands at the Coldplay concert witnessed the scene unfold live on the huge screen of the stadium, that clip was played and replayed around the world. Millions saw their shame and read their names. It's not the sort of global fame one would aspire to, is it? I wasn't there, but like millions of others, I saw it on the news and social media. It was just another stadium packed with thousands of fans at a band concert. As cameras at the Coldplay concert panned across the crowd, the giant screen displayed images of a couple enjoying the show, locked in a tight embrace. Suddenly they saw themselves exposed to the packed stadium and they did their best to hide from view. That was July 2025. The repercussions came quickly, but a year later the effects on the couple still linger. After a year had passed, she felt she could attend a band concert. Sure enough, someone in the crowd recognized her and called attention to her. So while the world moves on, for the couple, those brief seconds of embrace and embarrassment cost them their jobs and destroyed whatever relationship they had. But what does that have to do with me personally? I didn't know the couple. It was no concern of mine that he had his arms around her waist, as couples would naturally do. Had they not reacted as they did, the camera would have moved on and no one would have given it a thought. It was the couple's obvious reaction of shame and guilt that set the whole affair in motion. The repercussions stem from the fact that he was her boss and he had a wife and family. But even that's nothing to me. But it illustrates what the Bible says will happen to all of us. What about my secret thoughts and deeds? Today it's harder than ever to hide where we are and where we've been. Cell phones and smart cars track us wherever we go. The options to cancel continuous tracking are far from 100% effective. We can try paying cash at gas stations and stores, but there are the ubiquitous cameras, the electronic all-seeing eyes constantly watching us. In the world we live in, anonymity is not what it used to be. And the meaning of privacy is extremely elastic. My mind leaped forward to the day the Bible talks about when each of us will find our private thoughts and relationships revealed. I thought of Jesus' words in Luke 12, verses 2 and 3. He said, There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. In the context of the previous chapter, there were multitudes seeking Jesus, but he warned specifically of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Jesus wasn't campaigning for the support of the multitude. He wasn't concerned about the number of clicks, likes, and subscribers. Neither am I. I'm not seeking followers. I'm interested in thinkers, listeners who will ponder the ideas I present. And you don't have to agree with me either. But you do need to agree with the Bible. I can count heads, but I can't count hearts. Only God can count hearts. That was the problem the Pharisees had with Jesus. He could see right through their outer persona, right into the depths of their souls. Verse 2 is the only place in the Bible where the Greek word for covered is used. He says there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered. Sincalypto, the prefix sin, indicating entirely or completely, is further intensified by the perfect tense of the passive participle. It expresses purposeful concealment. That's in strong's concordance. No matter how hard we try to conceal our thoughts and motives, they will be uncovered. I think of the episode in John 8 as a New Testament equivalent of the cold play moment. A woman was caught in the very act of adultery and brought before Jesus. Now that was a serious case. She was facing a death penalty by stoning. Her sin was uncovered, and so was her body. It was truly a scene of fear and shame. But the reminder that there is a celestial cold play Jambo Tran moment in my future stopped my train of thought in its tracks. Judgment Day is coming. And it's not a whistle stop on the train of our lives, it's the final stop, the end of the line. It's where we all get off at our eternal destination. But do we all get off at the same time? What does the Bible say about Judgment Day? You know, I find five judgment days in the Bible, not just one. And my upcoming podcast on these things were written, called The Five Days of God's Judgment, presents Bible facts about each of the five judgment days and what they mean to us. And then we're condemned, warned, offered an acquittal, and our sentence is executed. Now is the time to prepare for that final day. And that is something for all of us to stop and think about. Thanks for listening. Watch for the upcoming episode of These Things Were Written, which is a follow up to this whistle stop episode. And check out my other podcasts, Give Me This Mountain, and in times like these, because God's word is for our world. And there's a lot more about God we need to learn.