When Harry Met Sally with Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney
This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, we continue our rom-com theme with When Harry Met Sally starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. We all want a timeless love story to tell, but it doesn’t ever look as magical as we anticipate. We long for intimacy, but frequently settle for sex. In this story, we discover a vision of God who knows and loves us fiercely, and will stop at nothing to pursue our hearts. Throw out that wagon wheel coffee table, get out the Pictionary. Baby fish mouth is sweeping the nation. Let’s discover God’s truth in this movie.
Quotes
You’re not going to fully enjoy sex if you make it the main thing.
When we can enjoy what God has given us in their proper context, they don’t destroy or disappoint us.
There is an intimacy that goes beyond the physical.
We long to be known, and when we are not, it leads us into addictions and cravings in an attempt to satisfy that longing.
In order to have the love story we long for, we have to get to know each other first.
You don’t get intimacy without having difficult conversations.
Your relationships will take you into uncharted territory.
It scares us to be with someone who thinks we’re worth a million dollars.
We’re comfortable with God wanting to save us from hell, but we’re not comfortable with God wanting to use us for redemptive purposes.
Themes
We all want a timeless love story.
The dangers of making sex (or anything else) the main thing. It’s not meant to carry that burden.
If all the focus is on a one-time event (with kids, wife, even God), and not a way of living, the event becomes distorted and meaningless.
Salvation as the consummation of relationship with God, but He continues to court us and pursue our hearts.
We think we want a life of sex, but we long to be known, loved, seen, and accepted.
Our core craving is to be whole hearted, which takes feeling delighted in, a sense of belonging and justice.
God does want us to delight in sex, but that can’t happen if that’s the number one priority.
When you are secure in the relationship, you can have difficult conversations that lead to greater intimacy. You can go into uncharted territory and feel safe.
Resources
Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing by Jay Stringer
“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” - 1 John 3:16 (NLT)
Questions
What little things do you do daily to connect with your wife? Kids? God?
What events do you look forward to?
Where do you think you have life figured out?
Are you a student of your wife’s heart? Kids’?
How are you still courting your wife?
What if God continues to pursue your heart every day? What would that look like?
When have you felt delighted in? Like you belong?
What uncharted territory are you afraid of in your relationship?