Raising Dangerous Children: Part 3 Of “Educating Our Children”
In Part 1 of this series, The Battle for Minds, we surveyed the most crucial terrain in the war for our children: the living room. It is there, on the carpeted battlefield of family life, that our children learn whom to fear, whom to love, and whom to serve. In Part 2, The Classroom Is a Cathedral, we ascended into the sanctuaries of formal instruction and examined how every educational space—public, private, or home—is a place of worship, catechesis, and indoctrination. The question was not whether your child would be discipled, but by whom.
Now, in this final installment, we come to the crescendo. If the home is the forge and the classroom the cathedral, then this is the commissioning. What kind of children are we forming? What kind of warriors are we releasing? What kind of legacy are we building?
We are called to raise dangerous Christians.
Not "dangerous" in the way the world defines it: reckless, chaotic, violent. But dangerous like Christ was dangerous. Dangerous to idols. Dangerous to systems of oppression. Dangerous to lies, to corruption, to sin, to Satan.
Christ was not crucified for being sweet and soft-spoken. He was crucified for turning over tables, exposing hypocrites, defying tyrants, and declaring the exclusive Lordship of God. He was not a moral mascot; He was a kingdom insurgent. A seed of divine rebellion planted in the soil of a cursed world—and now His children are to be the fruit.
Christian parents, you are not called to raise tame children. You are called to raise lion-hearted saints who fear God so fiercely they are unafraid of anything else. You are called to raise children who do not just survive culture but shape it. Who do not retreat from darkness but charge into it with the torch of truth.
You are called to raise dangerous Christians.
That begins by rejecting the modern obsession with raising "nice" children. Nice is not a fruit of the Spirit. Niceness is the hallmark of someone who fears man. Someone who plays to the crowd. Someone who blends in. Someone who says nothing offensive because he believes nothing definitive. But Jesus did not say, "Blessed are the nice." He said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."
Your child was not made to blend into Babylon. Your child was not called to fit in, keep quiet, and color inside the lines of a world that hates Christ. Your child was born to storm the gates of Hell. And if we do not train them to do so, we should not be surprised when they start decorating the gates instead.
So what does it mean to raise dangerous Christians?
It means raising children who will stand when the crowd bows—like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Who will pray when the law forbids it—like Daniel. Who will proclaim truth when rulers threaten—like John the Baptist. Who will take beatings and sing hymns in prison—like Paul and Silas. Who will face down giants—like David. Who will slay dragons—like Christ.
It means raising children who know what they believe, why they believe it, and Who they believe in. Children who know that truth is not a preference, but a person. That the gospel is not a lifestyle choice, but a life-and-death rescue mission. That sin is not a personality quirk, but a rebellion against a holy God. That love is not a feeling, but a cross.
To raise dangerous Christians is to put steel in their spines, fire in their bones, and Scripture in their mouths. It is to prepare them to walk into the world not as tourists but as ambassadors. Not as impressionable youths but as immovable saints.
It means teaching them how to die before they learn how to live. Teaching them that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Teaching them that comfort is not the goal, safety is not supreme, and survival is not success. It is better to be burned at the stake with a Bible in your hand than to rot in retirement with regrets in your soul.
This kind of child is not produced accidentally. You cannot raise a Daniel on Disney. You cannot raise a Deborah on Netflix. You cannot raise a Timothy by outsourcing to TikTok. And you certainly cannot raise a Christ-follower while worshiping the golden calves of comfort, convenience, and cultural approval.
You must be intentional.
That means opening the Word of God daily. That means catechizing them with conviction, not casually. That means surrounding them with faithful saints in the local church who model what it means to follow Jesus with joy and grit. That means showing them repentance when you sin. Singing hymns when you suffer. Giving thanks when you're tired. Standing firm when you're mocked.
It means showing them what dangerous faith looks like in a dangerous world.
Let your daughters see that womanhood is not weakness. That Sarah, Deborah, Esther, and Mary were not docile. They were dangerous to the serpent. They crushed his head with faith and obedience. Let your sons see that masculinity is not toxic. That Joseph, Joshua, Nehemiah, and Paul were not soft. They were warriors, shepherds, priests, kings, and preachers who laid down their lives for truth.
Let them see that the true Christian life is not sanitized, scripted, or safe. It is bloody. It is beautiful. It is war. And it is worth every drop of sweat, every ache of persecution, and every sacrifice of praise.
If we raise this kind of child, then we will not fear the future. Because we will know that we are sending out arrows, not reeds. We are releasing lions, not lemmings. We are filling the world with Christ-exalting, truth-wielding, Spirit-filled saints who will outlive empires and outlast tyrants.
We are not building a bunker. We are building an army.
So take heart, parents. This is not a calling you fulfill in your own strength. Christ has already won the war. You are not forging your child alone; you are laboring in the grace of the One who was the perfect Son on your behalf. You will fall short, but He never did. You will fail at times, but He never has. And He promises that if you sow in faith, you will reap in joy.
So be encouraged. Keep going. Keep praying. Keep reading. Keep training. Keep trusting. Because the King is with you, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against what you are building.
Raise dangerous Christians. The world needs them. The church needs them. And Christ deserves them.
