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Christians Rebuke John Piper for Calling Trump’s Re-Election Win an ‘Evil’

Milton Quintanilla

John Piper received backlash on social media this week after remarking that President-elect Donald Trump's victory was an "evil."

"Presidential election results," Piper wrote on Wednesday. "Having delivered us from one evil, God now tests us with another."

He added a reference to Deuteronomy 13:3: "The Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

According to Church Leaders, Piper's comments were met with backlash from Trump supporters, including Christian leaders and influencers. 

"MASSIVE L TAKE HERE," activist Sean Feucht, a worship leader and self-described Christian nationalist, wrote in response. 

Eric Metaxas, radio host and best-selling author of the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, commented, "This is religious horsecrap. Shame on these pastors for NOT being Sons of Issachar, but rather modern-day Pharisees and Sadducees, not knowing Truth from a lie. Lord, deliver us from them."

"You gave annual sermons celebrating a serial adulterer," said Stephen Wolfe, author of "The Case for Christian Nationalism." His remark was referring to Piper's admiration of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. 

"I have long benefitted from Pastor John and his ministry. But this is incredibly disappointing. Trump's policy positions pose some problems for Christians, yes," said "Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda" author Megan Basham. "But the two sides were not morally equivalent. We should all be rejoicing this morning that he did not hand us over to leadership with the most wicked policies this nation has ever known."

In response to Basham's post, one commenter said that Piper "is a Leftist and always has been."

On the other hand, Neil Shenvi, author of "Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology―Implications for the Church and Society."

"Guys, Piper didn't say 'Trump is the greater evil' or 'Christians should not have voted for him' or even 'I wish Harris had won,'" Shenvi said. "He's reminding us of what ***many of us were saying when, e.g., Trump eviscerated the GOP's pro-life platform.***"

"Piper [is] demonstrating a calculus level of understanding of God's testing. Many of the replies show a need for a basic mathematics level test," said biblical counselor Joseph Leavell. "Piper's spot on. May our fidelity and love be to Christ our King."

Piper was previously critical of Trump in the last presidential election. In 2020, the Desiring God founder commented on the race between Joe Biden and Trump, saying that his calling as a pastor would be "contradicted by supporting either pathway to cultural corruption and eternal ruin."

"When I consider the remote possibility that I might do any good by endorsing the devastation already evident in the two choices before me," he added, "I am loath to undermine my calling (and the church's mission) to stand for Christ-exalting faith and hope and love."

"At times, it happens in a fallen world that a vote for any proposed candidate is so offensive, so morally compromised, so misleading," Piper said in 2023, "that it may be a matter of greater integrity, more faithful obedience to Christ, and a clearer witness to the truth if we do not vote for any of the proposed candidates."

Photo Credit: ©Micah Chiang/Wikimedia Commons

Milton QuintanillaMilton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.