They called him the “black devil” for wearing an English black overcoat on the streets of Shanghai. The trappings of his Western European culture had become a barrier to the Chinese people, communicating that Christianity was a foreign religion. Early missionary pioneer Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) wondered what the impact would be if he adopted Chinese customs. He adjusted to wear baggy pants, colorful silk shirts, and pointed, embroidered shoes, consistent with the style of Chinese men during the Qing Dynasty. He ate Chinese food and immersed himself in mastering the intricacies of the Chinese language. He wore his hair in a queue, the customary hairstyle for Chinese men, with the head shaved in the front while the hair in the back was braided in a long ponytail. Wouldn’t you know—as his appearance attracted less attention, his message was given more serious consideration. He now had a problem of a different kind. His fellow missionaries criticized him for selling out and becoming “too Chinese.”
Hudson Taylor was way ahead of his time. It’s now considered commonplace for missionaries to dress and live like the people they are trying to reach. Hudson interpreted Paul’s words to believers in Corinth as a guiding principle for his enculturated approach to ministry, “To the Jews, I become a Jew, to win the Jews…To those not under the law (Gentiles), I become like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9.20-23).
Hudson wrote of prayer, “Do not have your concert first and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer and get first into harmony with Him.” He wrote a simple prayer in his diary during a season of considerable turmoil and challenge: