{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"ECFA Podcast","title":"Your Calling Isn’t a Competition","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2543,"description":"Every ministry has a different assignment, but we are all working toward the same Kingdom mission.\nChurches and ministries often serve different communities, meet distinct needs, and carry out their work in unique ways. Yet comparison can quietly turn those differences into competition, shifting our focus from faithfulness to performance.\nThat raises an important question: What might ministry look like if we stopped measuring ourselves against one another and started seeing each other as fellow laborers in the same work?\nECFA President and CEO Michael Martin and Vice President of Public Affairs Aaron Mercer unpack what happens when accountability is used to build ministries up rather than stack them against each other. Their conversation moves beyond ratings and rankings into something deeper: unity, integrity, and the kind of witness we create when ministries choose to see one another as fellow laborers rather than competitors.\nThey also explore how ECFA’s accreditation model reflects that conviction. The goal is not to declare one ministry more valuable, effective, or worthy than another. It is to help organizations pursue accountability and faithful stewardship within the unique calling God has given them.\n\nFor ministry leaders, donors, and anyone serving in the nonprofit or church space, this conversation is a reminder that we are not rivals. We are part of the same body, serving the same Kingdom, and pursuing the same ultimate mission, even when the work God has placed before us looks very different.\n\nAbout Aaron Mercer\n\nAaron Mercer serves as Vice President of Public Affairs at ECFA, where he helps develop resources that support ECFA members in meeting the Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship. He also monitors public policy developments in Washington, D.C., particularly issues affecting churches, ministries, charitable giving, and tax policy.\n\nAaron joined the ECFA team in 2023 after experience working on Capitol Hill, with nonprofit organizations,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/1dikG4zCV2Rn95V6fTkjuC1ThbWgzI6PwizNqxCYuzY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kMTc5/YTY1NmU5M2NkNWQ0/MTcyMTdkYWRhYTFk/NTRjNi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}