John Piper prompts pushback from Jack Hibbs, others over Leviticus tweet on "welcoming the stranger": 'Irresponsible theology'

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 638,000 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.

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."

"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 Patridge, 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 decades, 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.

RE: Throughout the Old Testament, God castigated the Israelites for allowing foreign people in to destroy their culture.

The statement is largely accurate, though it simplifies the biblical emphasis somewhat.

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly rebukes the Israelites for intermingling with foreign peoples, forming alliances, or adopting their practices, which invariably led to idolatry, moral corruption, and the erosion of Israel’s covenant identity and worship—elements that formed the core of their God-ordained culture.

Key examples illustrate this pattern:

In Deuteronomy 7:1-6, God commands the Israelites to conquer and drive out the Canaanite nations entirely, forbidding intermarriage or treaties with them. The explicit reason:

“They will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.”

This was not mere xenophobia but a divine mandate to preserve monotheistic fidelity and national purity against pagan influences that would “destroy” Israel’s distinct religious-cultural framework.

Exodus 23:31-33 and 34:11-16 reinforce this, warning that allowing these nations to remain would cause their gods to become “a snare” to Israel, leading to compromise and judgment. The cultural destruction was tied to spiritual infidelity: foreign idols and rituals supplanted Yahweh worship, fracturing Israel’s communal life under the covenant.

Historical accounts show the consequences. In 1 Kings 11:1-8, King Solomon’s marriages to hundreds of foreign women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and Hittite backgrounds draw God’s wrath because they turned his heart to their gods, building altars to Ashtoreth, Milcom, and Chemosh. This directly undermined Israel’s theocratic culture, leading to national division.

Even in Numbers 25, the incident at Baal Peor—where Moabite women seduced Israelites into worshiping Baal—prompts a plague that kills 24,000, with God commanding separation to halt the “plague” of cultural and spiritual contamination.

So, there are nuances. The Old Testament distinguishes between hostile pagan nations (whose influence God prohibits to safeguard His people) and the possibility of righteous foreigners integrating through conversion and obedience to the law (e.g., Ruth the Moabite or the “mixed multitude” in Exodus 12:38, who could participate after circumcision).

God’s concerns centered on threats to covenant faithfulness—idolatry, injustice, and syncretism—not blanket immigration opposition. Foreigners were to be treated justly (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:18-19), but only if they aligned with Israel’s God.

In essence, Israel’s “culture” was inseparable from its worship of Yahweh; allowing unchecked foreign influence routinely “destroyed” it by inviting divine judgment and national downfall.

RE: People who say we must “love” the stranger, meaning illegals, just what is it they want us to do? Until recently, illegals have been flooding in here by the millions, so just how “unloving” have we been to them? They’ve been allowed to sneak in, given housing, food, phones, etc.

IMHO, The biblical commands to treat the stranger (often translated from the Hebrew “ger”, meaning a resident alien or sojourner) with kindness are real and binding, BUT THEY OPERATE WITHIN CLEAR BOUNDARIES that ALIGN with God’s broader mandates for national preservation and ordered loves.

So, Leviticus 19:33-34 states: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 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.”

Similarly, Deuteronomy 10:18-19 commands: “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

These instructions emphasize justice and mercy toward foreigners ALREADY INTEGRATED into Israelite society—those who had submitted to the covenant, obeyed the law, and posed no threat to Israel’s distinct identity as God’s holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6). Ruth and Rahab are some such examples.

This squares with the warnings against unchecked foreign influence because the ger was not an invader or an unassimilated mass disrupting the covenant community.

The “ger” was expected to dwell peacefully, fear God, observe the Sabbath, and participate in Israel’s worship and legal framework (Exodus 20:10; Numbers 15:15-16; Leviticus 24:22). God provided for them through gleaning laws (Leviticus 19:9-10) and festivals (Deuteronomy 16:11,14), but this was CONDITIONAL on their alignment with Israel’s God and laws. Hostile nations or those importing idolatry were to be excluded or conquered outright.

The biblical commands to treat the stranger (often translated from the Hebrew ger, meaning a resident alien or sojourner) with kindness are real and binding, but they operate within clear boundaries that align with God’s broader mandates for national preservation and ordered loves. Leviticus 19:33-34 states: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 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.” Similarly, Deuteronomy 10:18-19 commands: “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” These instructions emphasize justice and mercy toward foreigners already integrated into Israelite society—those who had submitted to the covenant, obeyed the law, and posed no threat to Israel’s distinct identity as God’s holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).
This squares with the warnings against unchecked foreign influence because the ger was not an invader or an unassimilated mass disrupting the covenant community. The ger was expected to dwell peacefully, fear God, observe the Sabbath, and participate in Israel’s worship and legal framework (Exodus 20:10; Numbers 15:15-16; Leviticus 24:22). God provided for them through gleaning laws (Leviticus 19:9-10) and festivals (Deuteronomy 16:11,14), but this was conditional on their alignment with Israel’s God and laws. Hostile nations or those importing idolatry were to be excluded or conquered outright (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; Joshua 23:7-13), as their presence eroded the theocratic culture that defined Israel. The kindness was for the law-abiding resident, not a license for open borders or cultural suicide. Israel’s own history as “strangers in Egypt” (oppressed slaves, not privileged guests) underscores mercy rooted in empathy, but it never overrides the command to possess the land and maintain separation from pagan ways (Numbers 33:51-56).

Applying this to illegal migrants today requires the same biblical framework of justice, ordered loves, and national stewardship. Nations remain divinely ordained entities with borders and identities (Acts 17:26), and leaders are accountable to God for upholding them (Romans 13:1-4).

Illegal entry is a violation of law and sovereignty, akin to the hostile incursions God commanded Israel to repel—not the peaceful sojourning of the ger.

Charity toward illegals must flow from ORDERED LOVES: prioritize your own household, community, and nation first (1 Timothy 5:8).

Secure the borders through law enforcement, deportation, and deterrence—this is justice, not cruelty, as it protects the vulnerable citizens (widows, orphans, the poor) already here from exploitation, resource strain, and cultural dilution.

Once borders are enforced, extend mercy to those who enter legally, demonstrate genuine intent to integrate (e.g., through work, language, and respect for the host nation’s Christian heritage), and abandon loyalties to foreign ideologies or gods. Churches and families can provide aid to the truly needy among them—food, shelter, legal counsel—but without subsidizing invasion or demanding amnesty that rewards lawbreaking.

True application honors God’s design: nations as distinct peoples under Christ’s lordship, where hospitality strengthens rather than destroys the host.

Thank you for that thoughtful and intelligent and sensible response. You are very knowledgeable. Perhaps you should write a book or article on the subject, if you haven’t already.

I notice the Bible says to treat strangers “as the native among you.” Not BETTER than the native. “As” the native. If we treated them “as the native,” they’d have to follow the same laws we do and pay taxes just like citizens and legal immigrants.

And a “sojourner” would be someone traveling through. I recently saw a post from a young British man who traveled to the US on vacation and the airline lost his luggage. When he posted this, numerous Americans who lived near his hotel offered to go there and give him some money to tide him over until his luggage was found. The young Brit documented his whole vacation and raved about the kindness, friendliness, and generosity of the Americans he met. That’s how Americans are. I’m sure most us would be very kind and generous to any stranger traveling through our land.

So I resent these “Christians” constantly guilt-tripping us and telling us that we are unloving. What they really want is open borders. They just don’t come out and say it.

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'This folly must stop'