Children’s ministry curriculum rarely explores the Judges of Israel deeply—the rescuers during the settlement years of God’s people in the Promised Land which made it the perfect choice of study this Lenten season. By this time, Joshua, Moses’ faithful wingman, had passed away, and the Israelites had yet to fully claim the land God had promised through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet, they were called to live as a distinct people under the reign of the One True God, surrounded by tribes that worshiped many gods—El, Baal, Asherah, Anat, Mot, Dagon, Chemosh, and Molech—whose temples and festivals filled the high places and green groves of Canaan. As Dr. Sandra Richter puts it, “It’s hard to swim upstream against the cultural tide.”

I’m now in the third week of Dr. Richter’s study on Deborah, and I’m already in tears. Not just tearing up—but actually calling a colleague to ask, “Have you seen the Week 3 video? What in the world?! We’ve been living this!”

Deborah, along with many others, was called by God, led by the Holy Spirit, to judge and rescue His unruly children through wisdom and military might, during one of the most corrupt and chaotic times in Israel’s history. Time and again, the Israelites fell into a cycle: obedience to God, then disobedience and idol worship, followed by foreign oppression, repentance, a desperate cry for deliverance, and then a judge sent by God to rescue them. Victory would come, peace would last for a time, but then—just like clockwork—the people would forget. Judges 3:7, 12 sums it up: “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and…”

How could they forget so quickly? How can we forget so quickly? How can I forget so quickly?

Dr. Richter puts it plainly: “Mission drift is only a matter of time without ongoing effort and accountability.” By the time of the Judges, the third generation of Israelites—the grandchildren of those who had been delivered from slavery—had no personal memory of God’s mighty acts. They had no expectation of His good work in their lives. They drifted. They compromised. They blended in with their neighbors. They stopped taking risks, stopped standing out, and saw little difference between right and wrong. “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Judges 17:6; 21:25.

The kingdom of God was no longer their first allegiance. Their faith was no longer their own. By the end of the book of Judges, God’s people were more evil than the Canaanites. She calls this the phenomenon of the third generation.

But here’s the good news: Over the past sixteen months, the church I serve has moved from experiencing this third-generation drift back to the passion and contagious fire of the first generation, thanks to a team of brave, Holy Spirit led, integrity-solid disruptors. The first generation experiences God’s power firsthand as a community. They take risks. They show up. They dare stand up. They protect God’s mission for the church over their own comfort and self-interests.

Think of Martin Luther, who dared to challenge corruption in the Catholic Church over indulgences, or John Wesley, who shook up the Anglican Church by calling people to a personal, experiential faith forming classes, bands, and societies. We honor them as heroes now—but in their time, they were unlikely, scarred, yet faithful disruptors and revivalists; dare I say, rescuers.

Just as Israel needed leaders—even unlikely ones—today’s church needs them too. We need disruptors, visionaries, and heroes who are willing to put the kingdom of God first, stake their lives on the gospel, not get sucked into the drama of ‘us’, and unapologetically put the Great Commission back at the center of the table.

How will you set your table? Which seat will you take? What will be at the center of the table?

“Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel.” Judges 5:7