One of the things that has always stood out to me about Hudson Taylor was his willingness to become as Chinese as he could in order to win Chinese people to Christ. In contrast to others at the time, Hudson Taylor and his organisation were known for adopting Chinese dress, living in local Chinese housing rather than the foreigner enclaves, eating Chinese food, adopting Chinese customs and working to achieve a high level of language ability (source).
In a letter written in 1867, Hudson Taylor wrote the following:
We wish to see Christian [Chinese] – true Christians, but withal true Chinese in every sense of the word. We wish to see churches and Christian Chinese presided over by pastors and officers of their own countrymen, worshiping the true God in the land of their fathers, in the costume of their fathers, in their own tongue wherein they were born, and in edifices of a thoroughly Chinese style of architecture.
If we really desire to see the Chinese such as we have described, let us as far as possible set before them a correct example: let us in everything unsinful become Chinese, that by all things we may save some. Let us adopt their costume, acquire their language, study to imitate their habits, and approximate to their diet as far as health and constitution will allow. Let us live in their houses, making no unnecessary alterations in external appearance, and only so far modifying internal arrangements as attention to health and efficiency for work absolutely require. (source)I fully agree with the first paragraph of the section quoted above. That logic should hold true for whatever country we are working to bring the Gospel to. Christianity does not wipe away cultural distinctions or impose culture and language. Every believer is called to holiness, to become more and more Christ-like - that is universal. And at the same time, God created diversity in humanity and the global church should reflect that.
But what about the second paragraph? Does that logic always hold - that to see the growth of the Gospel in a certain country or culture, the foreigners should as far as possible, in everything unsinful, become as much like the people from that country as they can? I've heard that line of thinking from different sources before - to reach a culture, you should conform to that culture as closely as you can, whilst not sinning or damaging your own heath etc. And a few years ago, I would have absolutely concurred with that idea. It made sense to me - if you want to win people to Christ, you should become as much like them as you can, whilst avoiding all sin. Sometimes I think its the invisible (or maybe not so invisible) standard that we hold Christian workers who have been sent overseas to, where the more that a worker becomes like the people of their host country, the more dedicated they are held to be.
After all, this was what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.As a foreigner living in Turkey, this is not an abstract question for me. But it's not just a question for people like me. As Paul continues on a chapter later:
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.This is an issue that concerns all believers - how can we use our freedom to seek the good of many?
As Christians, we have been set free. We are not under the law - we have the freedom to, for example, accept the meat that a neighbour offers to us after the Feast of the Sacrifice. But we are under Christ's law. And what is Christ's law? Galatians 5:13-14 sums it up:
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”Here's the principle behind it all. And it's simple. We should love one another. When Hudson Taylor had his hair cut into the Chinese style and put on Chinese clothes, which would have looked and felt so strange from his English clothes, he was loving the Chinese people. At that time, Europeans were all lumped into one category together - the soldiers, the traders, the administrators, the religious workers and collectively known as the 'red headed devils'. Hudson Taylor consciously resisted being put into the category of European colonialists by becoming as Chinese as he could. He was imitating Paul and Christ by, in as far as he was able to, not being a stumbling block to the Chinese in terms of how he appeared and spoke. And his actions opened up opportunities for the Gospel - Chinese neighbours noticed and asked for an explanation.
I too am called to love my neighbours. But living in 21st century Turkey, that looks a little different for me than for Hudson Taylor - and that is exactly as it should be. How I love my neighbour here should look different to how my friends living in Muslim communities in the UK live. And both of those should look different to how a Christian living in a white, working class area should live. And each of those will look different to how a Christian worker living in rural Papua New Guinea lives. But the point is the same for all of us - loving our neighbour means stepping out of our comfort zone and living in a way as to remove all stumbling blocks to the Gospel.
The big difference for me as opposed to Hudson Taylor is that we live in a global world nowadays. Turks understand the concept of different cultures . They have exposure to different countries and cultures as they watch television, access the Internet and use social media. That doesn't mean there are no cultural misunderstandings (there are plenty!) or that the Turks we know here necessarily have a good understanding of what life is like in the West. But 21st century Turkey is connected to and aware of the world in a very different way to 19th century inland China. And compared to China one hundred and fifty years ago, there is more room here for diversity in how daily life is practised and greater freedom of expression.
The key question is what does it look like for me to love my neighbour here?
Practically, I love my Turkish neighbours by adhering to Turkish customs and traditions where I can. We don't wear our shoes in the house, we have slippers ready at the door for our guests and serve Turkish tea to our visitors. We add the abi (big brother) or abla (big sister) title when we're talking to or about people older than ourselves and use amca (uncle) or teyze (aunt) if they're significantly older than us - and we expect the same from our children. We make sure to say kolay gelsin (may it come easy) when we see someone working and geçmiş olsun (may it pass quickly) when someone tells us they, or their relative or friend, are ill or having a hard time.
When I cook for Turkish people, I love them by cooking food that they will like, first and foremost. Our slightly older Turkish friends usually prefer Turkish style food to anything else, so that's what I make them. When we have the youth group over, I often love them by making pizza. When it's just our family at home, I love my children and my husband (who are also my neighbours) by cooking Turkish food some days and non-Turkish food other days. They love Turkish food, they just love non-Turkish food as well and I would be doing a poor job of bringing up my Third Culture Kids if they looked at all British food as 'foreign'. Our Turkish neighbours know that we are not Turkish and do not expect us to eat Turkish food all of the time. In fact, they would probably think it strange if we never ate non-Turkish food. Where we live and at the time we live in, it is no barrier to the Gospel for us to eat non-Turkish food. And if we were to eat Turkish food all of the time, I don't think that would be much help in commending the Gospel.
I also love my neighbours here by dressing in an appropriate way, so as to endear the Gospel to them. We live in a conservative city. Many of the women here dress in a conservative way - making sure their clothes cover all of them except their hands, feet and faces and often wearing a headscarf. Other Turkish women here may dress in a slightly less conservative style, for example leggings or knee length (or even shorter) skirts. There's a pretty wide spectrum of clothing that Turkish women wear. I have freedom in Christ when it comes to my clothes - and yet I have deliberated curtailed my freedom for the sake of the Gospel. Because in the issue of clothing, it is not enough just to make sure that my clothes fall into the range of clothing that Turks wear - as a Western woman, Turks apply different rules to me. For the sake of the Gospel, I dare not dress like some of my Turkish friends do!
For example, the skirts I wear here are never, ever as short as knee length. It is a very commonly held assumption here that all Westerners are Christians. Turks see Western women in Hollywood films and assume that these actresses are Christians and that this is how Christians dress and act. This is considered proof that Christians are immoral and fulfills every negative stereotype held concerning Christians. I am one of the few Western women living in our city of over 1 million people - it is extremely rare that I see another Westerner while out and about in my local area. People are looking at me to see if Western women really are as immoral as they seem on the television screens. So when we're in our city, I don't take advantage of the full spectrum of clothing choices that can all be truthfully considered to be 'Turkish'. Instead I dress more conservatively than some Turks do with the aim of preventing this being a stumbling block to the Gospel.
There's obviously a lot more that can be said on this and the examples above are just a few practical instances. I can see lots of ways in my life where I have become in tune with Turkish culture and loving my neighbour here comes naturally. I can see other areas where we've broken with Turkish cultural expectations because we believe it's a wisdom issue. I've talked and laughed and lamented with Turkish friends over the positives and negatives of both Turkish and British culture.
These are nuanced issues. I've been wrestling with questions over this since I came to Turkey and will undoubtedly continue to do so. I'm aware of the temptation to use this line of reasoning as a convenient way to hold onto some of my British-isms. I'm not claiming I've always got the balance right in what to adopt and what not to. That will always be a work in progress. And there are not always simple answers. For Hudson Taylor, disassociating himself from other Europeans by adopting Chinese dress and customs was clearly the right thing to do for the sake of the Gospel. He honoured God by loving his Chinese neighbours in this way.
I long to see more strong, faithful churches in this country, filled with Turkish disciples of Christ, who shine like stars in the universe as they hold out the word of life. Yet I am convinced that it does not mean I must become as Turkish as I possibly can. It means that I should use my freedom in Christ to serve humbly by loving my neighbour - my Turkish non-believing neighbours, my Turkish brothers and sisters in Christ, my husband, my children - in whatever form and shape is necessary for the sake of the Gospel. And I think Hudson Taylor would approve of that. May I love and serve the Turkish people as much as Hudson Taylor loved the Chinese people.
