Once again we’ve arrived at Wednesday.

Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.

Let’s enjoy ourselves, shall we?

As a Christian blogger who observes the present turmoil in our faith and culture and politics, I find that I sometimes can’t go where other bloggers go in commenting on this or that recent incident. At the same time, however, some of these “incidents” need to be addressed from a Christian perspective.

The Jeffrey Toobin incident is the latest to catch my attention. In case you haven’t heard, Toobin — author, staff writer at the New Yorker magazine and Chief Legal Analyst at CNN — was seen masturbating near the end of a video conference call with several of his colleagues from the New Yorker.

He’s now suspended from the magazine and on leave from the network. His only comment, as reported by Vice.com was,

“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers,” Toobin told Motherboard.

“I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video,” he added.

There’s no end to the hilarity and general mockery of Toobin online, none of which I will link to here. I have refrained from piling on because it doesn’t seem right.

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
    when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the Lord will see and disapprove
    and turn his wrath away from them. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

Toobin is not my personal enemy, but he’s no friend of conservatives, of which I am one. So I have chosen to be reserved, even though there is plenty of fun to be had if I wanted to.

Instead, I’m pondering the cultural milieu we’re in. How is it that we now inhabit a culture where such a publicly lewd act is even considered? I know it’s just one guy, but still. Harvey Weinstein anyone? Louis C.K.?

Notice, too, the nature of Toobin’s apology:

– I believed I was not visible on Zoom.
– I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me.
– I thought I had muted the Zoom video.

He’s not apologizing for the act. He’s apologizing for failing to have turned off his camera. That was the “embarrassingly stupid mistake.”

What’s most disturbing is that he decided to act out during the call. The group was supposedly on a break — accounts differ — but the point is that his internal urge overrode his sense of propriety. That suggests a man who is driven by his lust, not a man who is self-controlled.

Toobin my lose his job over this, but already some are saying he’ll be back because he’s too valuable for CNN to cut loose. If he does resume his duties, we have to wonder how he will weather the shame—or, perhaps, wonder if he or the culture has any.

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3 that in “the last days” (with my emphasis):

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

All of these have characterized men and women through the ages. They are once again surging in our own era. Jeffrey Toobin is just the latest to be caught.

By the way, we’re all going to be “caught” someday. Jesus promised it.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. (Luke 12:2-3)

That’s another reason I won’t join in mocking Toobin. Every thought, word and act we’ve committed in secret will someday be exposed. We’re all at risk in that way. Fortunately, Jesus Christ provides our exoneration.

For those of you who believe, rather than mock Jeffrey Toobin, join me in breathing a brief prayer of mercy over him today.

[Image by Harut Movsisyan from Pixabay]