The weekly TGCvocations column asks practitioners about their jobs and how they integrate their faith and work. Interviews are conducted and condensed by Bethany L. Jenkins, director of TGC’s Every Square Inch.
Brian Chan is chief software architect and founder at Liferay, an open source portal, content, and collaboration software company. Although he and his family are based in Los Angeles, Liferay has offices all over the world—Brazil, China, Germany, and elsewhere.
What exactly does your company do?
We create software that helps companies make all kinds of great modern websites. Our software does 80 percent of the work, and our customers put in the last 20 percent to make the website fit their business. A university might make a student portal, a hotel could take reservations online, or an insurance company might help customers get quotes—all using Liferay, but customized for them. To get the most of their websites, companies buy our subscription, which gives them support and tools to improve their work.
When did you first start thinking about going into this kind of business?
I majored in computer science and economics at university, but I enjoyed ministry more than academics. After graduating, I wanted to go overseas, but the agencies I met said I’d be most helpful working on their websites. Being pragmatic, I couldn’t build just one website, so I built a tool for making lots of websites. Then commercial companies started using Liferay, too, and that’s how the business got started.
How did things evolve from there?
We first thought about giving away money radically: what we earned with one hour of our time could support, say, an Indian family of four or help bring relief after natural disasters. But after a few years of writing checks, the emotional connection wasn’t there and, more crucially, we realized that business itself should be an agent of the gospel.
Can you explain what you mean by that? Do you mean business as missions?
“Missions” is a narrow and often negative term. It recalls for some the colonial period or a kind of evangelicalism that only seeks to win converts. Jesus announced good news that said, “God’s kingdom is here! Injustice will be stamped out, people are freed from sin and death, and our work can glorify God and benefit people.” It’s a transformation of our world that makes doing business radically different.
So you won’t share the gospel?
“Sharing the gospel” with words is vitally important (Romans 10), but it has more credibility when it comes in the organic context of relationship. So we start with building a business that’s above reproach and positively affects the communities where we operate—creating jobs and new opportunities, paying taxes, teaching new skills. We also partner with non-profits that bless those communities with non-commercial goods like tutoring, health care, and social advocacy.
And that makes people wonder about your motivation?
Exactly! As we do these things with joy, opportunities naturally arise to say, “The reason why I’m personally motivated to do all this is because Jesus is real in my life, and I’m part of what he wants to do in the world.” At the very least, they respect us for that. And sometimes they get curious because everyone wants meaning and purpose in their lives.
How have you been able to do this so effectively?
We’re just getting started and definitely haven’t figured everything out. One constant challenge is navigating grace in the context of market demands for excellence and value. For example, we had an overseas manager who loved the people in his community but wasn’t doing a good job. We gave him warnings and tried to coach him, but we had to let him go. But God took care of him, and he’s now at a better place.
You probably have to make a lot of hard decisions like that.
It’s important to “build grace into the business.” We run lean so there’s leeway to give people changes when appropriate. Keeping the company private has been a big part of that—there’s no outsider forcing us to maximize their money, so we just focus on maximizing blessing others. Most importantly, I try to hold this company lightly, being faithful and steadfast (what John Piper calls a “Coronory Christian”) while it lasts but being willing to let it go.
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
