“We are a company with Christian convictions, but how do invite folks from other kinds of convictional places to share in a common good work together?” asks Chi-Ming Chien, principal of Dayspring Partners in the Bay Area and Center for Faithful Business Fellow. Inspired by the vision of Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Amos, as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ, Chien is living into God’s call on his life and work in the marketplace.

Part of answering this call has meant relocating the Dayspring firm from downtown San Francisco to Bayview, an underserved community where tech firms rarely venture. Since their move, Dayspring has worked to build deep relationships and has started and/or supported numerous grass roots efforts to serve its neighbors, in partnership with Redeemer Community Church. This work is the focus of the Faith & Co. Film: “Dayspring
(Monastery 2.0).”

“You don’t wall off the marketplace as something that the gospel doesn’t have implications for,” Chien continues. “This gospel message of reconciliation, the good news that Christ is reordering all of our relationships, and that we can have redemptive interactions is native to a marketplace environment.”

The work of Dayspring Partners is a central focus in Dr. Jonathan Tran’s new book, Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism (Oxford University Press, 2022). Dr. Tran is Professor of Ethics at Baylor University, where he holds the George W. Baines Chair of Religion. Based on the work of his book, Dr. Tran will be speaking on the topic of the Gospel as God’s divine economy for the 2023 Annual Alfred S. Palmer Lecturer at Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 7:00 pm, in Upper Gwinn (Third Floor). Hosted by the Seattle Pacific University School of Theology, the event is free and open to the public. More information can be found on the SPU School of Theology website.

Thinking about your own work, business, or industry, how can it participate in the redemptive work God is doing in your local community? What are some practical steps your business can take to invest in the place where it’s located? What steps can you take to build relationships with people in your community? We’d love to hear your ideas. Write us at cfb@spu.edu.

May God bless your work for the common good of your community.