No Kings! Demanding a better Kin-dom

We’ve seen the signs at protests.
​We've made the signs! 
Spray-painted on cardboard.
Black marker, bold letters:
NO KINGS!
It’s more than just a rejection of authoritarian monarchy.
It’s a cry against domination.
Against systems that hoard power, demand obedience, and try to enforce and claim peace based on someone else’s silence.
And here’s the wild, subversive truth:
I believe Jesus would’ve carried that sign.
When Pilate asked him, “Are you a king?”
Jesus didn’t play the game.
He didn’t deny it, but he refused to answer on Empire’s terms.
“My kingdom does not belong to this world,” he said.
Not because it’s a kingdom in the clouds.
But because it doesn't work like the kingdoms we know.
No thrones. No weapons. No walls.
Just tables. Just healing. Just welcome.
Jesus didn’t come to replace one ruler with another.
He came to reinvent or even end the rigged game entirely.
To dismantle power built on fear.
To call the poor blessed.
To flip the tables.
To wash the feet of those the world would rather ignore.
So when we say “Jesus is Lord,” we are not crowning a new tyrant.
We’re announcing a new reality:
No kings. Only kin.
No Kingdoms. Only Kin-doms. 
A movement, not a monarchy.
A beloved community, not a holy hierarchy.
That’s the kin-dom. That’s the protest.
That’s the Way of Jesus.

A Prayer for June 14th, 2025 No Kings!
Jesus,
you stood before empire and didn’t flinch.
You redefined power, not by ruling, but by serving.
Not by fear, but by love.
You didn’t seek a throne, but a table where all are welcome.
You didn’t demand loyalty but called us into kinship.
Let us rise up to face this urgent time.
Let us walk in your way disrupting what harms, healing what’s broken,
and building a world where no one is above another, and everyone belongs.
No kings. Only kin.
Amen.
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Find your local protest gathering:  https://www.nokings.org/

Make your safety plan: https://www.hrc.org/resources/tips-for-preparedness-peaceful-protesting-and-safety

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