John Piper prompts pushback from Jack Hibbs, others over Leviticus tweet: 'Irresponsible theology'

'This folly must stop'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, February 26, 2026

Reformed Baptist theologian and retired pastor John Piper faced overwhelmingly negative responses to a Wednesday X post that quoted an Old Testament verse about welcoming the stranger, which many took as a veiled take on U.S. immigration policy.

"You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God," Piper tweeted, quoting Leviticus 19:34. "Christians know the miserable bondage we were all in."

Piper's post, which has drawn more than 1 million views as of Thursday, raised eyebrows even among some X users who said they have benefited from his decades of ministry, but were either confused by his point or disagreed with his tacit implication.

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:34

Christians know the miserable bondage we were all in.

— John Piper (@JohnPiper) February 25, 2026

Pastor Jack Hibbs, who serves as senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, California, clarified in a response to Piper's post that foreigners expecting to join ancient Israel were expected to assimilate to their religion and laws.

"The foreigner who came among the children of Israel, were to be accepted in as converts, and not to be mistreated, but to be treated as brothers, even though they were immigrant foreigners. It was their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that was the criteria," Hibbs wrote.

Author Katy Faust, founder and president of the children's rights nonprofit Them Before Us, echoed Hibbs by listing multiple references from the Torah that explain the foreigner and sojourner were "expected to respect and abide by the laws of Israel."

Podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey also noted that the expectations of immigrants to Israel in the Old Testament were "far stricter regulations than what we have currently."

"The tolerance for illegal migration in ancient Israel was zero. A sojourner had to follow laws about circumcision, food, marriage — all of them," she said.

William Wolfe, executive director at the Center for Baptist Leadership, said Piper "quoted a very specific verse that is the favorite of the 'Woke Immigration Theonomists' at a moment when debate about immigration enforcement in America is at an all-time high. Even if he hadn't added commentary, we all know what he is doing."

I'm sorry, anyone out there stating "John Piper just quoted a Bible verse" is a propagandist at best and an intentional liar at worst.

First, he didn't just quote a verse. He added commentary. I noticed that's been intentionally overlooked by Dan Darling here. Even worse, he… pic.twitter.com/ULtIX6OUz5

— William Wolfe ???????? (@WilliamWolfe) February 26, 2026

"Good grief," said evangelist Justin Peters, who cited Numbers 15 to note that sojourners in Israel were expected to adhere to their laws — something he observed every illegal immigrant has failed to do.

"If a foreigner comes into another country illegally, he has, by definition, broken established laws. And what this has to do with spiritual bondage pre-regeneration, I am not sure," Peters said.

"I love Dr. Piper, but this folly must stop," said Dale Partridge, who is the lead teaching pastor at King's Way Church in Prescott, Arizona. "To correlate these instructions to Israel with the circumstances facing America is simply irresponsible theology."

Partridge noted that God was not commanding the ancient Israelites to allow their people to be overrun or their religion replaced; he suggested that the immigration issues the U.S. is facing are existential, posed by illegal immigrants who are violating the Ten Commandments with their presence.

"Israel was never expected to allow such a number of foreigners that it would overtake the existing population, replace the Jewish people, their culture, or import paganism," he said. "America is facing national theft through demographic replacement. Foreigners are violating the Eighth and Tenth Commandments by coveting our land and envying our children's inheritance."

"They are stealing from us and exterminating us through systematic assault. Immigration without biblical assimilation is a form of invasion. To apply the Scriptures of orderly and just immigration to the chaotic and evil immigration of our day is not befitting of a man of Piper's theological prowess," he added.

Evangelist Sean Feucht, who has been an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, said he "never imagined a theologian I once looked up to would became [sic] so unbelievably WOKE while weaponizing scripture to justify the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation."

Jamie Bambrick, who serves as associate pastor of Hope Church Craigavon in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, posted that he was unaware of any Bible verse that "says we need to lose billions in welfare fraud and let [rape] gangs assault little girls."

Bambrick, whose country is a part of the United Kingdom, was apparently referencing the largely Pakistani rape and grooming gangs that have afflicted underage girls in the U.K. in recent years, which conservative political commentator Mark Steyn has described as "industrial-scale assault and torture."

Other users veered into anger with their responses to Piper, with some noting that despite Piper's 33-year ministry there as pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Converge), Minneapolis has descended into lawlessness and become the epicenter of the violent political tensions over federal immigration enforcement.

Eric Conn, executive pastor of Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah, expressed skepticism regarding the value of Piper's political insights, given a 2015 Desiring God article in which he offered "a seven-fold" theological analysis of whether it would be permissible for a Christian man to shoot someone who was assaulting his wife. Piper concluded the New Testament "does not satisfy our demand for a yes or no" on the topic.

Written in response to Liberty University allowing its students to arm themselves amid terrorist threats, Piper even claimed in the 2015 article that a man calling the police on his wife's assailant "may come from a heart that is out of step with the mind of Christ."

The Christian Post has reached out for comment to Piper's ministry, Desiring God, and will update this story if a response is received.

The viral response to Piper's tweet comes as Christians across the political spectrum increasingly debate the proper application of biblical commands regarding personal hospitality to immigration policy.

Political commentator and author Ann Coulter recently dismissed Christian leaders who attempt to apply such passages to U.S. immigration as "fake, phony frauds" who crave the approval of the liberal cultural elite.

"They want to be praised in The New York Times," Coulter said of such figures. "This has nothing to do with Christianity." She also warned that faulty theology applied to immigration policy threatens the existence of the U.S., which in turn threatens the world.

"They ought to consider that this is the last Christian country on Earth. And once we're gone, it's over. It's lights out for the globe," she said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also weighed in on the theological debate earlier this month, affirming that "border and walls are biblical" and that the civil magistrate is not bound by the same biblical hospitality demands placed on the individual.