‘What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you to joy or tears – what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?’ – John Eldredge, from his book, Epic
I just finished watching Stranger Things Season 4. I’ve been hooked on this show since its first season. Part of the reason is nostalgia. Stranger Things is set in the eighties, the period in which I grew up, and everything about it, from the music to Dungeons and Dragons to rock band T-shirts to home décor to Starcourt to antiquated video game systems sitting atop television sets (big boxy ones at that; no flatscreens) takes me back. Yes, the show is a bit weird and frightening, but weird and frightening are part of growing up too, so it only adds to the nostalgia. In many ways, Stranger Things makes me feel like a kid again; it enables me to relive the story of my youth.
But it’s more than nostalgia. Stranger Things also reminds me of the story I continue to live in; the story that, believe it or not, you live in too.
The world of Stranger Things is plagued by malevolent forces that work behind the scenes from an unseen dimension called ‘the Upside Down.’ These forces mirror dark figures from the world of Dungeons and Dragons, including a Mind Flayer, Demogorgons, and a Lich, though there is more to them than meets the eye. Through a doorway between worlds, they terrorize the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, from which they intend to move out and destroy the world as we know it.
Enter the hero: a young girl named, oddly enough, Eleven (El for short).[1] As the series progresses, El grows in knowledge and in wisdom, in purpose and in power. She no sooner appears than she attracts a group of misfits. Four nerdy youngsters. An alcoholic cop. A single mom struggling to raise two boys. Teenagers who, at first, don’t seem to know whether they are coming or going. A conspiracy theorist. With El as their leader, they take on the malevolent forces of the Upside Down. El’s band is foolish and weak in the eyes of the world. But they are the heroes fighting to save it, the ones who see things clearly, while the other residents of Hawkins live distracted lives.
Caught up in the omnipresent battles of the 1980s, the residents of Hawkins are simply clueless. The series hearkens back to the dominant battles of the time when it shows competing yard signs for Reagan and Mondale and evokes the terror of the Cold War. These, alongside less pressing matters, occupy the time and attention of Hawkins’ residents, as such matters do in our own world. No one realizes the real threat, or that the battles that dominate their lives are mere skirmishes in a much larger war. Caught up in lesser stories, most residents of Hawkins (and beyond) neglect the main story that will determine the course and outcome of their lives.
Sound familiar?
It should of course, at least to Christian readers. For we too live amidst malevolent forces, both seen and unseen, that desire to destroy the world as we know it. A world wherein most people are caught up in lesser battles and stories, oblivious to the true story. A world that, though not everyone knows it, has a hero. A hero who tends to attract the most unlikely followers, the most effective of which are foolish and weak, despised by the world, counted as nothing in its eyes (see, 1 Corinthians 1:26-28).[2]
Yet these weak ones, as they follow their leader, their ‘El,’ are the ones who see things clearly. They have identified the true enemy. They are, of course, like the characters in Stranger Things, impacted by the lesser stories taking place about them. But they maintain their focus. They keep their hearts in the true story and live their lives accordingly, as they anticipate the defeat of evil and the coming of a new world.
In the final analysis, this is why I love Stranger Things. Like all great stories, It reminds me of the true story. The story I hope to give my attention to all the days of my life.
The question is, of course, whether you, reader, desire to give attention to that story as well?
I would suggest, along with John Eldredge, that if you like Stranger Things, there just might be a reason. Deep down, your heart may have already realized that it is pointing you to ‘the true Story into which you were born, the epic into which you have been cast.’
Here’s hoping that you take your place in that story.
And become one of its heroes.
Under Christ’s Mercy,
Brent
[1] It’s probably just a coincidence, but in Hebrew, El means might, power, or strength, and is a name for God (e.g., El Shaddai, Emmanu-el).
[2] These days, as in all days, there are powerful people who count themselves among the true hero’s followers. But more often than not, they are, to borrow a phrase from Brennan Manning, ‘posers, fakers, or wannabes.’ Or worse.