Stranger Beings and Stranger Things
I, like most of the country, have been taken under the spell of the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things. It’s actually one of the main reasons I will not get rid of Netflix – it is some of the most interesting, dynamic, and engaging writing that I’ve encountered in a really long time.
Science fiction is my favorite genre. Especially when it’s less technology and more culture/chaos. Dystopia, we lovingly call it. Maybe throw in a little bit of fantasy (though, I am not one drawn to stories with dragons – that’s a little too far).
I love to delve into the human condition in these types of stories, the reader is exploring the “what ifs” of humanity, which demands us to look at the human psyche. What do humans do when they have nothing left to lose?
So why am I dedicating a blog post on a platform aimed toward helping women grow in their Christlikeness to a pop culture science fiction show? I am sure some of you are already picketing my page now because of the content issues within the show.
I get it, if the show is not for you, this is not an advertisement to watch it. I know of some shows that are probably well written that I would not want to watch because of the way they affect my mind or heart. Again: please do not take this as a prescription to go and watch the show.
Regardless of whether you watch the show or not, I do believe that in most anything we consume, there are usually elements of truth. Whether it is because we recognize bad behavior has consequences or we cheer when moments where good character are highlighted or explored. Sometimes, even biblical concepts are flirted with in a secular way.
I made one of those connections last week, when digesting how far my husband and I were in the show*, between reality explored in Stranger Things and the one that needs to be recognized in our own spiritual lives.
It all started when I was lying in my bed (maybe listening to The Hounds of Love for the third time that day) thinking about the themes and motifs repeated throughout the seasons. I thought back to a meme I stumbled across earlier that week that maybe the crew should stop playing “Dungeons & Dragons” because that seems to be opening up the portals to the Upside Down**. My husband and I had a conversation about this, in which I pointed out that the game itself was not opening the portals to let in the enemy. It was just something the characters used to try to understand what was happening around them.
Labeling their enemy as “Demodogs”, “Demogorgons”, and “Vecna” was not claiming the actual existence of the creatures in reality. Instead, it was creating relationships by naming what was happening in the world around these game players after their “in game” counterparts. Because how do we describe, in this very physics/chemistry/sciency rule bound world of ours, beings that do not behave in ways we know they should.
We have to be aware of doing the same thing when we approach the bible. I know this may seem a little unorthodox – and those who showed up with pitchforks at my blog door are probably screaming heresy– but hear me out.
The past few weeks of my current bible study have been in the book of Ezekiel. If you’ve never read this book (I’m not even going to say “study”, much less “understand”), there are a heck of a lot of really weird images going on.
Ezekiel is a prophet who is celebrating his 30th birthday at the beginning of the narrative (he there, man, welcome to the Not Yet 30 club!). Israel has been ransacked and enslaved by the Babylonians at this time. Ezekiel is one of the Jews who was taken away to Babylon, out of his homeland and away from the life he had dreamed of living. Ezekiel is pretty sad this day because it should have been a day of celebration: he was from a long line of priests and on his 30th birthday he would have been promoted to serving in that capacity on his thirtieth. Instead, he is sitting beside the river in poverty while Israel as a nation is in shambles around him because of their disobedience.
As Ezekiel is sitting there, he sees a vision.
I looked and saw a windy storm approaching from the north and a huge cloud with flashing fire, glowing brightly all around with the color of gleaming amber from within the fire. Inside, there appeared to be four living creatures that looked like human beings; but each one had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, with feet like calves’ hoofs. They glittered like burnished bronze. Beneath their wings they had human hands on their four sides. The four of them had faces and wings as follows: they touched one another with their wings; they did not turn when they moved, but each one moved straight forward; as for the appearance of their faces, they had human faces [in front], each of the four had a lion’s face on the right, each of the four had a bull’s face on the left, and each of the four had an eagle’s face [toward the rear] — thus their faces. As for their wings, each had two that stretched upward and joined those of others, and two more that covered their bodies. Each [living creature] moved in the direction of any of its faces; in whichever direction the spirit wanted to go, they went, without turning as they moved — thus the appearance of the living creatures.
Ezekiel 1:4-13
It goes on to describe these creatures as speeding here and there like flashes as lightning, with fire spurting intermittently between them. Also there are wheels involved.
Let’s all take a moment to accept that we have no idea what the heck is going on in this image. It makes little to no sense. I am sure there are really smart theologians out there that could draw a very nice picture of this and try to wrap it all up in a nice neat bow.
I do not think that is the point of this passage. I also do not think we should be ashamed to admit when we really don’t know what Scripture is trying to say to us. Like the Upside Down, the Spiritual World is not bound by all of our human understanding. It’s what has led us into debates about pre-destination and the power of prayer. You are asking time-bound limited creatures to understand a limitless God.
You are also asking these creatures, with a very finite and clearly defined universe, to understand an entire world that is beyond our understanding or even our dimension. When the people of the Old and New Testament encounter angels in their true form, they are reliant on the words we have to try to explain exactly what they are saying. Those of us who have felt powerful emotions (or watched the scene where Max escaped Vecna with Kate Bush’s “Running Up that Hill [A Deal With God]” triumphantly cheering in the background) know that words can often fail us.
Going back to the Stranger Things connection, this is why a powerful life-sucking creature from a mirror world gains the name “Vecna”.
And why angels have multi-faces with a bizarre menagerie of animals.
This is why we have to be careful when we approach the bible to not take every single thing we read as a literal image of what is happening. If you try, Ezekiel and Revelation are going to become real problems for you. And when it comes to some of the concepts of Scripture of God being outside of time, it can seem even more confusing.
I believe it is perfectly okay in our faith-walk to admit when something does not make sense, but to accept that it is the way that God made it. Think back to when you were a child: there were concepts or relationships or areas that you did not fully understand then that you do now because you have a more informed perspective on the issue. God is our Heavenly Father who dwells fully in the spiritual and physical realms– and so there are times where we, as physical people, have to accept what He tells us without fully comprehending. Because we cannot. We are not mature enough in our being to have the full perspective. That will come when we have been risen from our carnal bodies to join Him in our newly resurrected spiritual ones.
Paul writes about this conundrum following the famous “Love does” verses:
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12
In the previous verse, Paul talks about how children reason like children because that is where they are in their development. As they grow, they (should) communicate in maturing and age-appropriate ways as they become adults.
Likewise, we as sinful earthbound creatures understand as the limited humans we are. To see the Spiritual Realm and to understand it is something that is beyond our comprehension. We should not fault ourselves for being confounded by it. We are not yet made perfect (complete) in our spiritual bodies. Some of God’s people, through gifting and spiritual training, may come closer to understanding, but they won’t fully comprehend the whole picture. And they will not have the words to communicate what they are seeing to those of us whose perspectives are not as mature.
Do not be dismayed if what you read from time to time does not make sense. Do not be discouraged in your pursuit of God’s Word and give up, accepting that you are never going to understand. You won’t, this side of Heaven. You will continue to read Revelation with only the foggiest idea of what is going to actually happen because the only words we have to understand involve horses and swords coming out of Jesus’ mouth. And really, none of that makes a whole lot of sense either.
Instead, accept where you happen to be on this journey of exploring God’s Word. Pray that He can help you figure out how to apply these heady concepts to your time bound life. Have faith that you will someday understand when you have been perfected in God’s Forever Kingdom.
And grow some healthy respect for the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual realm. I believe that part of the reason many churches in America forsake the importance of engaging the Spirit in our daily lives is because we cannot wrap our heads around the spiritual realm, so we just ignore it. That should be the last thing we do.
A bunch of teenagers in a fictional show had enough healthy fear of the beings they were against to give them names after frightening and powerful counterparts in their adventure game. Let us take seriously the power that Satan does have, the forces of darkness against us, and the reality that demons are real and have every interest in damning the lost and leading astray to bind the people of God.
And like our Stranger Things counterparts, let us not stop us from engaging in warfare. We may not be strong in our fleshly bodies, but we have a Heavenly Force behind that is much stronger. Jesus’s name is far more powerful than we ever give Him credit for in the Western world. Learn how He has instructed us to bind and overcome the powers of darkness by studying the Scriptures.
Before you know it, the fact that you don’t understand the demogorgons or Vecna does not stop you from courageously stepping forward to save your family, friends, and town from forces that wish to see it destroyed. You know that in His Name, Spirit, and Kingdom you will be victorious.
To quote that old song:
“I’ve read the back of the book, and we win.”
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*When I wrote this post, we had only watched up to episode 6 of season 4–my husband does not believe that binging a television show is good or healthy. Please pray for our marriage because I watched the first two seasons in two days each in pre-his presence and I may lose my mind.
**If you have not watched the show, here’s a small synopsis: The setting is a small town in 1980s Indiana called Hawkins. One of the characters was experimented on as a child and has the power to get to another dimension they end up calling “The Upside Down”. It is a mirror to our world, only darker and more dangerous. In this Upside Down, creatures can get out into our world through opened portals to wreak havoc on this small sleepy town. The superhuman character encounters a group of nerds who bond over the new adventure game – Dungeons & Dragons. The crew, several of their family members and friends, set off to try to defeat the big baddies each season.