A Ramble About the Basics

Today, I decided to put on some old Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes. I haven't watched them for some time because we used to watch them all the time and it got to the point we knew each episode by heart and could recite the dialogue verbatim.

In the series, there are two characters which stood out today, Prince Zuko and his uncle Iroh. Prince Zuko is practicing his martial arts training and is, in a spoiled and impatient way, demanding that his uncle teach him the advanced set of movements. His uncle wisely tells Zuko that he's too impatient and that he needs to practice more on the basics. No matter how much Zuko pushes, Iroh does everything he can to politely avoid advancing him before he's mastered the basic forms.

In the following episode from that one, Zuko finds himself in a serious martial arts duel called an “agni kai” with a master of his martial discipline over a master of personal honor. His uncle can only stand by and watch because it is a matter of personal honor, but he does advise Zuko to remember the basic forms of his discipline because they would save his life. The contest commences as the prince and his opponent square off and try to best each other. At first Zuko in unsure and his oppenent takes advantage of it nearly dropping him and dealing him a crippling blow. Then Zuko's basic training takes over and overcomes his fear and he drives back and defeats the man who insulted his honor.

Iroh was right to emphasize that Zuko master the basics first before teaching him anything more. As Christians within the Church we would do well to remember Iroh's wisdom. All too often, we barely skim over the basic teachings of Christ and try to go straight to more “advanced” teachings. The problem is that if we don't master the basics, then we don't have the foundation we need to progress properly.

Recently, as my family and I have moved from Idaho to Arizona I've had to relearn this lesson. I began to panic, and to worry about money, and to stress out. I spent less time in prayer, meditation, and spiritual reading and more time in just trying to bury my head in the internet, videos, etc. so that I wouldn't have to think about it. The only thing this accomplished was to make me more stressed out and panicked. I had forgotten to remember the basics.

The basics of Christian practice are love, compassion, and empathy for God and all others regardless of how they make you feel, letting go of your self and everything you're attached to, and remembering that God loves you and placing your trust in Him for your needs. We practice these through prayer and meditation and being conscious of them at all times. This is what Jesus Christ taught, and like Iroh's instruction to his nephew, we shouldn't be trying to go on to more advanced things until we have these mastered. It is for lack of mastery of these things that we get hammered, beaten down, and thrown about by the attacks of our spiritual enemies.

What good does it do us if we try and “master” the spiritual gifts when we don't even understand the depth of His love for us and through us? What difference does it make if we have the whole Bible memorized, and yet remain a slave to our possessions or passions?

Focusing on mastery of the basics is the only thing which can truly keep us safe in the constant battle against ourselves and our spiritual enemies.