I finally was able to see Avengers: Endgame this past weekend. One of the things it struck me the movie got right didn’t have much to do with the story line, but with the greater Story of all things. I’m not spoiling anything when I reveal there’s a battle in Endgame. And during that battle, the female heroes work together to move everyone closer to the goal they’re fighting for. And when I watched that scene I thought, “Yes, they got that right. That’s how it is.”
The men weren’t helpless fools waiting for women to step in and save the day. And the women weren’t weak and waiting around to be rescued. The men and women were working together, fighting alongside one another, to accomplish something that was too much for any one person to do on their own.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
The reason I know this is because the very first thing God said was ‘not good’ was for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). And God’s next move was to unveil Eve. She wasn’t an afterthought or a quick fix. She was the much anticipated solution to the world’s first problem. Because we’re better together.
God knew that Adam was going to need help. Adam didn’t need a subject so he’d have someone to boss around or to do his laundry. He needed someone like himself who could work and fight alongside him. Eve was God’s provision to meet Adam’s need.
The word God used to describe Eve was ezer, which is often translated ‘helper.’ This isn’t the kind of help who brings you a sandwich; it’s the kind of help that comes when you’re out of options and desperate for rescue. Every other time this word is used in the Bible, it refers to God Himself – “Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me” (Psalm 70:1). Eve was the source of vitally important aid and support, a sustaining power. She was the cavalry, the reinforcements, the shieldbearer. This doesn’t sound like someone you put in the corner.
It’s a great triumph of the enemy to convince Christian women that their proper role is to sit on the sidelines and watch. With that one lie, he eliminates half his opponents. The women of the Bible – heroines, leaders, princesses, mothers, survivors, warriors, friends of Jesus – show that God’s plans for women are unique and varied. We aren’t used by God in spite of being women. We’re perfectly equipped in every regard for the work God intends for us to do, the shared mission He invites us to participate in, to recover His lost children and return the goodness and glory that were once ours in the Garden of Eden. To restore the intimate, holy unity of our relationships.
God created us, male and female, to wade into danger to rescue one another. He has asked us to run into the fire, to be a first responder, to be a lifesaver. To love others the way we love ourselves, and to look out for their interests as well as our own. This involves risk and sacrifice, as every hero knows. The prize is worth the fight.