Ashley Madison.

Did just reading the name of the website dedicated to helping facilitate affairs cause you to smirk?

If so, you’re not alone.

I’ll admit that when I heard Impact Team had hacked the website and leaked the names and email addresses of nearly 40 million users, I chuckled.

It serves those cheaters right.

Right?

Well, as it turns out, it was wrong of me to have a laugh at the expense of those who were publicly shamed as philanderers.

In the Gospel of John, the apostle tells a story about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.

The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees — the good ol’ church folk of the day — brought the woman in front of a crowd that included Jesus.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

Do you know what Jesus said?

“Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

One by one, the folks who were ready to stone this woman for her sin slinked away until only Jesus was left.

He then asked, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

I’m not going to go so far as to say that I shed a tear for the folks who were caught using Ashley Madison’s “service” to cheat on their spouses, but my initial reaction was certainly wrong according to Jesus’ teaching.

The simple truth is that the information leaked from the site will wreck millions of lives.

Families will break up. Children will be forced to endure divorce. People will commit suicide. In fact, at least two suicides have already been reported in the wake of the scandal.

That doesn’t make me want to chuckle. In fact, maybe it should make me want to shed a tear. Actually, it should absolutely make me shed a tear.

While my name won’t appear anywhere on Ashley Madison database, I won’t be picking up a stone anytime soon to condemn anyone whose name does show up. I won’t condone what they did, but given Jesus’ advice, I certainly won’t be tossing a stone anytime soon.