The Hip Hudson Taylor

"There is a living God. He has spoken in His Word. He means what He says. And He is willing and able to perform what He has promised." Hudson Taylor

There were givens in Hudson Taylor's missionary work in China:

- A belief in the inerrancy of the Bible and a devotion to the Word
- A dedication to world missions and the Great Commission
- The practice of prayer and dependence on God

There are many people and ministries that believe the above, maybe not as in-depth in comparison to the work of Hudson Taylor and China Inland Mission, yet these principles are pretty much par-for-the-course among evangelical Christians. So what made the CIM so different and so effective?

This essay details it and I think that these principles are very applicable today in our 21st Century context.

Here are the Five Principles: (which made him Hip).

Dress - As seen in the picture above, Hudson dressed in Chinese clothing and wore his hair in a Chinese style. When he first arrived in China and went out to minister, he found his Western clothing becoming the attraction. He decided to dress and look Chinese as to let the message of the Gospel gain pre-eminence. I agree that when an old guy like me tries to dress hipster with torn jeans and the like, it can be pathetic. Yet, if I dress according to what my cultural milieu considerers within range, why should I not dress in a manner where I blend in and don't look like an oddball? Churches need to think about apparel and style issues, not at the expense of the Gospel, but for the Gospel. Many conservative Bible-believing congregations still dress according to the norms of the workplace and that puts a burden on people. I know that when I put on a tie and suit, I feel like I am working. And that is one sensation that I don't want to have on a Sunday. Hudson Taylor was heavily criticized by fellow Christians for his clothing and mocked by the Chinese. Over time, his decision to dress in context was appreciated by both.

Food - Hudson Taylor and his fellow CIM workers ate the food the Chinese ate and the way the Chinese ate it. Although it sounds rather common-sense to do so, this was a radical departure from the usual practices of missionaries. When one eats the food of a culture, there is a deep respect and bond that is forged. And it really is not only about food, but could also entail arenas like music, literary works, architecture, and the like. The I Am Second ministry posted an interesting article about the question of whether Jesus would tweet. Noting that Jesus was by practice fairly concise and concentrated with His words, Twitter would have been a technology well-suited for His message. The essay mentioned Jesus boiling down the 600 hundred and change Old Testament Laws down to two. Love God, Love People. How many Christians refuse to try new ethnic cuisines out because of fear and being embarrassed by not knowing what to order? Don't worry about it. Charge ahead and don't be afraid to admit your ignorance. Once I was in a Korean restaurant and set before me was a tray of mini-dishes, many of which I had no idea of what it was. I asked a specific question about a white round chunk of food. "What is that?" I asked. "It is a potato" was the reply. Not the end of the world and a good laugh. We may not all be able to travel, but visit some ethnic restaurants, get to know the staff, become friends with them. Share Christ. Also, watch films and documentaries on Netflix/Amazon/iTunes/YouTube about other cultures. I work in a high school thus a good deal of my days are spent in Central Pennsylvania. But, I have students that may travel the world. It is helpful if I know something about it.

Accommodations -Hudson Taylor and his fellow workers lived among the Chinese rather than cordoned off in their own Westernized communes. I understand why Christian parents have yanked their kids out of the public school system or decided to Homeschool. Yet, it seems very odd to take your kids out of the one place that might routinely require them and you to interact with the larger culture and neighborhood around yourselves. And, truth to be told, doing so breeds arrogance and inculcates a spirit of self-righteousness sometimes. I have witnessed cruelties in Christian groups that even Pagans are ashamed to do. Too often I see Christians create strong walls between themselves and non-Christians like a germ-a-phobe. Antiseptic spirituality. Jesus would go into a bar because that is where sinners are, just like bank robbers rob banks because that is where the money is. If a person is afraid of getting sucked down into the scene, then maybe your faith really isn't that strong and needs all kinds of props and duct tape. There are limits and parameters of course, yet Jesus Himself taught that what defiles a man comes from the heart outward. If you find yourself falling, check your heart. The culture wars remind me of two armies lobbing shells at each other over a great distance. When we get closer to people, we are less likely to want to bomb them for in so doing we bomb ourselves. Which is pretty stupid.

Customs - Others cultures are considerably more modest than we are. People are not as brash and individualistic, are more family and community-oriented. Hudson Taylor and his people didn't use their freedom in Christ to create controversies that were best avoided and not engaged, like relationships between males and females, particular the expression of affection in public places. If one plans to minister to Muslims, be willing to leave the alcohol behind. It will win you respect in their culture. In any practice, try to be practical in regards to your audience. Forcing them to accommodate you too much will sacrifice the chances to build relational connections. Becoming all things to all people will typically require the Christian to do the adjusting, like a key being fashioned to fit a door. 

Language - There was a huge emphasis in CIM to have its workers become proficient in Chinese and the various dialects. The most beloved and effective writer in the last century was C.S. Lewis specifically because he was first a world-class imaginative intellect. And second, he was understandable. He was the master of the illustration, the allegory, the analogy. He wrote and spoke in a language that people could connect with, while not dumbing down his prose or watering down basic Christian teaching (his use of Mere showed this). If we want our message to be heard, we need to redeem the vocabulary of our culture by re-centering it on the timeless truth of Scripture. The word work for instance has a very negative connotation in our world. But, work is central to our calling in this time and space.

When Hudson Taylor died, there were 175,000 Chinese Christians. When he started, the estimate of Christian natives on the Chinese mainland was under a 1,000. Today, despite the hard historical hand of Communism, there are millions of Christians in China and Hudson Taylor's work and workers have a lot to do with this.