<img src="Noel Dear Main Logo 2.png" style="width:600px; border: none; box-shadow: none; background: none;"> *Dr. Noel Dear's Sermons, Bible Studies, Articles, & Devotions* ([[Pastor Noel's Resources|Home]]) # Win Stupid Prizes July 22, 2025 <img src="KissCam1.jpg" style="width:1800px; border: none; box-shadow: none; background: none;"> Everyone has seen it! Everyone has laughed... Everyone has cringed... The now-infamous "Kiss Cam" video from the July 16th Coldplay concert, which caught Astronomer CEO Andy Byron in an embrace with HR head Kristin Cabot, has gone uber viral. The original TikTok video posted by Grace Springer has garnered over 125 million times, and reposts on other social media streams have likely multiplied that viewership manyfold. The fallout has sparked a wide range of responses. It seems public media sources are eager to be a part of the conversation on this, but they struggle to condemn Byron and Cabot's failure because they have embraced similar kinds of sins in their advocacy for sexual freedom and their endorsement of every possible perversion. While no one can deny that this situation must be devastating to the families involved, how can anyone who grew up laughing at the weekly adultery featured in The Big Bang Theory now summon the moral clarity to criticize this couple? (That thought is personally convicting.) Interestingly, the best commentary on the scandal has come from the 28-year-old Coldplay fan who originally posted the video to her TikTok. When Grace Springer was asked about her viral video, she captured the situation perfectly: “A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but play stupid games … win stupid prizes.” *Truth.* I don't think I've heard that expression before, but a quick search online tells me it is a common cultural idiom. I'm not hip enough to be familiar with all of today's modern proverbs, but I can recognize where many of these quips have roots in Scripture. Springer's quote is a perfect example. Two verses immediately come to mind. Galatians 6.7 says, "Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows, he will also reap." Proverbs 1.31 adds, "They will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes." Sin will always find us out. And the Lord makes clear that sin always has consequences. I remember the line old-time preachers were fond of saying: Sin will always take you further than you planned to go, keep you longer than you planned to stay, and cost you more than you planned to pay. Play stupid games; win stupid prizes. I have had a second thought while watching the Coldplay video and some of the hilarious meme videos it has inspired. My second thought is "Woe is me!" No, I haven't been in Andy Byron's shoes, but I've certainly played my fair share of stupid games. These videos have reminded me of my own sin. Like the Old Testament prophet catching a glimpse of the holiness of God, I find myself thinking: Woe is me... for I am ruined... because I too am guilty of countless sins (Isaiah 6.5)! Is there any hope for Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot? Is there any hope for Noel Dear? Yes. There. Is. The hope is Christ, who has lived and died to pay the penalty for our stupid games. The hope is in the forgiveness he offers to those who trust in him. The Apostle Paul looked at his life and his own stupid games. He cried, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Then he thought of Christ on the cross. He said, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And with the same breath he said, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus" (Romans 7.24–25; 8.1). We've laughed at the videos. We've cringed. We've reflected. Now let us repent. Let us run, not from the consequences of our sin, but to the grace of the one who bore them for us. Let's stop playing stupid games... and start clinging to a Savior full of mercy.