The Gospel, the Sword, and the Children of the King: A Call to Courageous Parenting

🛡 Raising Dragon-Slayers in a Land That Forgot Dragons Exist

Training Our Children in the Faith Amidst a Culture Gone Mad

> “Never feel sorry for raising dragon-slayers in a time of actual dragons.” – Anonymous

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you…” – 1 Peter 3:15

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I. The Modern Mind: Boldly Proud, Blindly Broken

We are raising children in an age that claims to be enlightened—but cannot define a man or a woman.

We live in a culture that boasts of tolerance—but shuns real conversation. A society that praises open-mindedness—yet cancels those who dare dissent. We swim in a sea of expressive individualism, expressive relativism, and expressive outrage.

The very existence of dragons—evil, sin, darkness, false ideologies—is denied by the modern West. And so, to raise a child who knows dragons exist, and more than that, knows how to slay them in the name of Christ, is to court cultural scorn.

But we are not called to be safe.

We are not called to blend in.

We are called to train up warriors who live not by lies and fear, but by faith and truth.

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II. The War for the Imagination

The battle is not merely academic. It's not just a political war or a moral struggle. It is, at its core, a war of presuppositions—a battle for the very foundations upon which people reason, live, and hope.

Our children are not growing up in neutral territory. Their imaginations are daily being shaped by media that denies God, by schools that redefine truth, and by peers who parrot modern mantras over eternal wisdom.

If we do not disciple their imaginations, the world will.

If we do not arm them with truth, the lies will be their armor.

If we do not speak with clarity, they will be wooed by chaos.

The question is not if they will be trained—it is who will train them.

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III. Presuppositional Parenting: Teaching the Whole Christ

Presuppositional apologetics is not just a method—it is a worldview. It teaches us to never concede neutrality. There is no neutral ground when it comes to truth, justice, or knowledge. All wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7), and all folly begins with man-centered autonomy (Gen. 3:5).

To raise our children in the faith is to disciple them to see everything—from math to art, from politics to gender—not as autonomous fields of opinion, but as realms under the reign of Christ.

Teach them not merely to answer objections, but to expose the foundations beneath the objections.

Train them not to argue from shared assumptions, but to challenge the very soil the enemy stands on.

Show them that hope is not found in worldly affirmation, but in the victory of Christ over sin, death, and falsehood.

Let them read Tolkien—but help them see the dragon is real.

Let them read Lewis—but make sure they know Aslan is a lion no government can tame.

Let them read Scripture—until the sword of truth is no longer a theory, but a weapon they know how to wield.

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IV. A Culture That Forgets How to Listen

We are raising kids in a generation that increasingly rebels against debate, equates disagreement with hatred, and confuses emotional fragility with moral strength.

This is not a time for raising soft-spoken, slow-to-stand Christians.

It is a time for raising graciously bold, Scripture-saturated, truth-loving, courage-dripping saints.

They must know that Christian speech is not hate speech.

They must know that silence is not kindness.

They must know that the gospel confronts before it comforts.

Let them weep over sin, but not retreat from the sinner.

Let them love their neighbor enough to be hated for the truth.

Let them be ready—truly ready—to give a reason for the hope that they possess, even if it costs them their social standing, their job, or their life.

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V. Hope on the Horizon: Why We Train

We do not raise dragon-slayers because the dragons are winning.

We raise them because the dragon has already been crushed beneath the feet of Christ (Rev. 12:9; Rom. 16:20).

We are not building a bunker—we are building battalions.

We are not retreating into exile—we are advancing the Kingdom of God.

We are not losing—we are enduring until every enemy is made a footstool for His feet (Psalm 110:1).

So train them to see Christ as supreme.

Train them to smell the smoke of deception and draw the sword of the Spirit.

Train them to weep with those who weep, to rejoice in suffering, and to never fear the howling of the mob.

Because the King reigns.

Because the tomb is empty.

Because the dragons lie.

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VI. Final Word to Parents

Don’t apologize for raising bold, articulate, truth-loving children.

Don’t second-guess teaching them to question modern ideologies.

Don’t hesitate to open up hard conversations.

Don’t wait for the culture to get worse before you get serious.

> You are raising image-bearers in a world that’s forgotten what it means to be human.

You are raising saints in a world that mocks holiness.

You are raising dragon-slayers in a world that calls evil good and good evil.

And you are not doing it alone.

You stand in a long line of covenant faithfulness.

You stand under the Word that will never fail.

And you raise them in the strength of the One who has already won.

So never feel sorry.

Never back down.

And never forget the promise:

> “I will be your God, and the God of your children after you.” – Genesis 17:7

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