Cleavage Theology?

“A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife.” (Genesis 2:24; KJV)

I remember reading the story of an old preacher who was asked to speak at a men’s retreat. He used Genesis 2:24 as his text, and in the excitement of the message, he shouted from the pulpit, “My young brothers in Jesus Christ, I declare to you this day that what we need in our relationships, what we need in our marriages, what we need in our churches, and what we need in this world is simply this: MORE CLEAVAGE!”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard that text expounded quite that way before. While I’ve studied Systematic Theology in seminary, I’m reasonably sure that there wasn’t a chapter on “Cleavage Theology.” It’s certainly true that this text could be used to encourage men to remain more faithful to their wives; Lord knows that far too many still seem to need to be reminded of that. Still, while Genesis 2:24 may make a great premarital counseling text, and though some might disagree, I am also reasonably sure that it does not teach that what we need more of in our churches is cleavage.

Still, being somewhat of a confessed humorist myself, I appreciated the chuckles that the aforementioned misguided hermeneutics provided me. I don’t know if that was a true story or not, and ultimately that doesn’t even matter, but if so, I can only imagine the chuckles and snickering that most certainly would have ensued in that preacher’s audience too. Who knows, but I imagine that even God might have chuckled at that one, for amongst the rest of creation, He also created humor, as suggested by Ecclesiastes 3: 1,4 which says:

“There is a time for everything … [including] a time to laugh” 

Well there you have it. If you haven’t heard a sermon on this lately, why not ask your pastor when he next plans on preaching on the merits of “Cleavage Theology?” (Hopefully he too has a healthy sense of humor). If it’s actually on his preaching plan, let me know when it’s scheduled; I may even come for a visit that Sunday. Yuk, Yuk  J

(Don't you just love the English language? LOL)

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons