Who Was Hudson Taylor?

Who was Hudson Taylor? Why should it be important for the Christian today to know who he was?

Who was Hudson Taylor?

James Hudson Taylor (May 1832-June 1905) was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China who founded the China Inland Mission and spent 51 years sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Chinese. He managed to bring over 800 missionaries into the vast expanse of China but also built 125 schools in the nation before Communism swept over the vast expanse of upper Asia. You may not know Hudson Taylor or may have never heard of him but we have very good reasons to know about Hudson Taylor and all that he did in his lifetime for Christ.

Hudson Taylor and China

Hudson Taylor had a very special place in his heart for China and he was convinced (and many others too) that God had called him to such a land as this and so he devoted his entire life in ministering to the Chinese people but he realized that “China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women … The stamp of men and women we need is such as will put Jesus, China, [and] souls first and foremost in everything and at every time—even life itself must be secondary.” In other words, this would not happen by itself, just with the presence of missionaries. It would take a concerted effort and specific tasks to present the gospel to a vast nation that had not really known much about God at all, not to mention Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They must hear about Christ in their own language.

Sailing off to China

When Hudson Taylor slipped out of the a British harbor, early on a September morning in 1853, he had no real idea what he was going to do in China, other than proclaim the gospel to a lost nation. The eager 21-year-old left, not knowing what to expect. He realized that a few missionaries had already been there but they had mixed success, so what was a 21-year-old going to do that others had not already tried? When Taylor was a young teen, he was called by God during an intense time of prayer and felt compelled to go to China where Christianity was only sparsely known among the millions who lived there. He disciplined himself to learn Mandarin Chinese and then dressed as the Chinese did, even having a pigtail, but the other missionaries were indignant about this. Hudson must have read and took to heart Paul’s writing where he wrote, “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1st Cor 9:22) and that “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1st Cor 9:23).

Trailblazer

Hudson Taylor didn’t want only to send Chinese Bibles to the ports in the hopes that the Chinese would read them and be saved. Rather, Taylor, along with Joseph Edkins, set off for the interior, setting sail down the Huangpu River distributing Chinese Bibles and tracts. Even after Taylor lost his financial support from the Chinese Evangelization Society which had sponsored him, he stayed in China, having faith that God would provide for his needs, but by 1861, an illness force him to return to England to recover. During this time, Taylor became very restless and decided to translate the Bible into Chinese so that the Chinese would have access to saving faith found in the Word of God and in the Person of Jesus Christ, which of course the Bible focused on.

New Chinese Mission

Taylor could no longer avoid the clear calling that God had for him in China and so he founded China Inland Mission, where, amazingly, the missionaries would have no guaranteed salaries nor could they appeal for funds when they needed them. All they could do was to simply trust in God to supply their needs, but he also wanted them to adopt Chinese dress and then press the gospel into the China interior where the gospel had not been yet brought, however his leadership style and high ideals created enormous strains between the London and China councils as he demanded more commitment from others in Britain. Despite Taylor’s never soliciting for funds for his missionary work, instead trusting in God, he inspired thousands to forsake the comforts of the West in order to bring the Christian message to the vast and unknown interior of China. Even though his mission work in China was interrupted by the communist takeover in 1949, the CIM continues to this very day but under the name Overseas Missionary Fellowship (International).

Conclusion

Hudson Taylor was one of the bravest and most dedicated missionaries that China ever had and his faith in trusting God to supply his needs is a remarkable statement of faith and trust in the God Who called him to China. Taylor knew that God would provide for what God had willed for him and God did supply his needs for his passion for the lost in China. Few men of his caliber have ever been known to forsake all for the sake of the gospel and make their life an offering or sacrifice for the sake of others, truly living out the Scripture, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He did not “fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do” (Luke 12:4). Since Jesus “laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1st John 3:16) and that’s exactly what Hudson Taylor did.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.