Eden Chen thinks Christians should take more risks. After navigating his own vocational journey, from processing a call to the pastorate to now launching multiple ventures in the LA-area, he’s determined to help Christians find solace in the sovereignty of God. In this episode of the CFWLA Podcast, Chen shares a bit of his own story, makes a plea for Christians to lean into the messiness of risk, and speaks to what he’s learned about faith in his work as an entrepreneur.
BIO
Eden Chen is founder of Fishermen Labs and Common Foods, and investor at CE Capital and CE Foundation. He has been featured on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list and resides in Los Angeles.
QUOTABLE
On Living Distinctly in the Workplace: (25:18-26:12)
“If you just do good work and you’re successful then you’re still no different than everyone else. Everyone wants to do good work and be successful. So you have the protestant work ethic, but there’s still no distinctive. Some of the guys that are non-Christian entrepreneurs that I work with work more excellently than Christians, and it would be a sin for Christians to work that hard. There’s a level of limits where Christians cannot get to that level of work ethic. So you’re not going to win people to Christ by just being excellent. Because someone will always be more excellent than you.”
On Handling Success and Failure as an Entrepreneur: (37:13-37:49)
“Especially when you find success, that’s when it’s really dangerous. Because then you're like, ‘Look at what I’ve built, and look at what I’ve done.’ If you’re an entrepreneur and you fail, then you probably have to go to the Lord. But if you’re successful, you don’t go to the Lord unless you are very intentional.”
On Risk Taking and the Parable of the Talents: (39:30-40:10)
“For the people that have more abilities, there’s more that’s required of them. With blessing comes responsibility. But it’s the opposite that I typically see.”