God has used many men to proclaim and herald his truth throughout generations. Of the many, only a small few have faithfully taught the Scriptures with a global reach and impact more than John Piper – at least in our current generation.
His ability to exposit and clearly formulate and articulate what is in his biblically shaped mind as he works through Scripture has been a treasure to the Church and its mission towards discipleship and Kingdom growth. When a man of God like John Piper speaks, it is far better to listen slowly and carefully, and with great appreciation to God for the work accomplished through this man.
In the same way when John Piper publishes an article which ponders the implications of the 2020 election, reading slowly and carefully with appreciation would be wise. But we must not read it as infallible. As the Puritan prayer Heart Corruptions reminds us: “A fountain of pollution is deep within my nature.” Even the most faithful thinkers are fallible. This means even John Piper’s thoughts must be carefully weighed, considered and critiqued.
This is what I hope to accomplish—a careful critique of Piper’s article. If you’ve not yet read the article, please do so before continuing on.
Unrepentant behavior: Where John Piper is incomplete
In his analysis, Piper leads the reader to believe that there exists a dichotomy of leader qualities: on the one hand, Donald Trump represents the bad person quality due to his unrepentant sins, while Joe Biden represents the bad policy quality since he endorses baby-killing, sex-switching, freedom-limiting, and the socialistic overreach. In other words, Piper sets the introduction to his article by laying out a canvas on which Trump is painted as the unrepentant one and Biden as the one with terrible policies.
This is a grave mistake.
While Trump is indeed unrepentant in many ways, Biden is hardly a paragon of moral virtue. He is arguably just as unrepentant—only more polished and less boisterous. Honest scrutiny reveals Biden’s own character flaws and hypocrisy. To single out Trump as “the unrepentant one” is misleading and inconsistent with the doctrine of human depravity Piper knows well.
Policies and Persons: Piper’s wrong dichotomy
Piper continues in his article and states that “Christians communicate a falsehood to unbelievers when we act as if policies and laws that protect life and freedom are more precious than being a certain kind of person.” In other words, the reader is left to believe that even though Trump may hold a favorable policy view on pro-life and sex-switching, Christians would be wrong to care about those above the requirement of a leader to exhibit a certain kind of good moral qualities.
But the reality is worse: we face bad character in both candidates. The more accurate framing is:
Bad person: Trump
Bad person and bad policies: Biden
From a biblical perspective, neither candidate meets the moral qualifications of godly leadership. Yet Biden leads a platform that actively celebrates and institutionalizes evil—chiefly abortion and the suppression of God’s design for male and female.
Christians should repudiate morally sinful character, and if repudiation is applied consistently honestly, this repudiation would include both Trump’s and Biden’s unrepentant moral character.
All sins are damnable. Some sins are worse.
To be clear: (1) all sins are damnable (2) no sin is acceptable (3) no sin is tolerable (4) but some sins are worse.
So consider the unrepentant man who also leads the Democrat platform that celebrates, promotes, and rallies around the murder of innocent unborn image-bearers. In many cases, leaders of the Democrat platform consider those murderers as heroes, particularly if the reason for the murder was to advance a woman’s career choice.
What does this do to a nation’s conscience? To date, over 60 million(!!!) innocent unborn humans have been legally slaughtered. Yet, many Christians are actually finding themselves sympathizing for the right of the murderer rather than the mutilated little image-bearer. The conscience is becoming numb and seared and the Christian is being duped by a false philosophy which celebrates a woman’s choice to murder.
Meanwhile, the unbelieving nation takes to the streets to march and demand that the freedom to murder not be overturned.
The church must warn those who celebrate, promote, and rally around this abomination, and the church must disciple the nations and its leaders by calling them to repentance and obedience to Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:19-20). This is Jesus’ earth and He rules over the nations – and in His creation, there should be no tolerance or supporting of the platform that celebrates the murder of unborn image bearers.
The same is true around the transgender issue. Those that suppress sacred truth by promoting the lie that a man can be a woman or a woman can be a man, or that a boy can be a girl or a girl can be a boy, or that either can be neither, are enemies of God’s truth.
But in Biden’s world, those who oppose transgender ideology will be perceived as the enemy of humankind. Wait until marketing schemes depict innocent 10-year-old boys wishing to dress, behave like, and transition into girls, while raised in a home with two sweet loving and gender affirming moms. This kind of story will turn the culture against Christians who cannot enthusiastically embrace this sort of immorality in this kind of home. Not affirming this wonderful boy’s desire to transition to a girl will be perceived as being a hater of the human race. History has shown us that cultures do not tolerate haters of the human race, however wrong the label.
Laws are not neutral—they are foundational to shaping a culture’s moral compass. Prior to its legalization, the vast majority of Americans opposed so-called gay marriage. But once it was enshrined into law, public opinion shifted dramatically. Today, even among professing evangelicals, sympathy for and approval of homosexual marriage is far more common.
How did this happen? Because policies and laws don’t merely reflect morality—they actively form it. When a nation calls evil “good” and legitimizes what God calls sin, consciences are dulled, hearts grow numb, and truth is trampled in the streets.
Isaiah warns of this exact reality: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). Laws that distort God’s design for marriage disciple a nation away from the Creator and toward rebellion against Him.
Don’t judge… wrongly
How should we judge the damnable sins of Trump against the damnable sins of Biden along with his policies which ruin a nation’s conscience by suggesting that murder, sex-switch, and homosexual marriage is a God-given right? Are they equal in consequence? Hardly.
Here, we would be wise to consider RC Sproul’s words:
“When the government is no longer acting justly and no longer protecting life—sanctioning abortions, for example—then it is the task of the church to be the prophetic voice, to call the state to task and tell the state to repent and do what God commands it to do.”
This does not necessarily mean that a Christian should vote for a Republican candidate. But it does mean that in 2020, the church should be a prophetic voice against the Democrat platform, and abstain from voting for Joe Biden, the leader of the Democrat platform that suppress truth and rebel against God’s created order. Many of these policies will destroy the nation’s moral conscience, harden hearts against the gospel, and invite God’s judgment upon a people who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
As Christ’s ambassadors, we must warn rulers of their accountability before King Jesus (Psalm 2:10–12), teach the nations to obey His commands (Matthew 28:19–20), and refuse to affirm laws and platforms that celebrate the shedding of innocent blood or the distortion of God’s design for humanity.
Conclusion: Election Day
To borrow Piper’s words once more, I think it is baffling for him to assume that of the two candidates, only Trump models sinful character traits that lead to death – temporal and eternal. Biblically-honest Christians must repudiate any leader for their unrepentant sins, including Trump and Biden. Simply put, Christians must not tolerate or accept any sins by any leaders. From a biblical perspective both Trump and Biden would be instantly disqualified if they were campaigning on grounds of moral character alone. So come Election Day, policy more than character will be on the ballot.
So where does this leave the Christian as they face a civic duty on November 3rd? First, the answer is not a matter of salvation – no man is justified or disqualified based on how they cast a vote. Justification and eternal salvation is solely by grace and through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross in the place of sinners.
Secondly and finally, although I am not necessarily advocating for the Republican vote, I am absolutely advocating for the Church to operate under the conviction of discipling the nations and teaching them to obey the commands of him who rules over his creation. Rebuke Trump for his unrepentant character and moral sins and pray for his obedience to Jesus to come quickly and consistently. Do the same for Biden – rebuke Biden for his unrepentant character and moral sins and pray that his obedience, likewise, comes quickly and with consistency. In the meantime, consider abstaining from casting a vote towards the Democrat platform, which celebrates, promotes, and rallies around the murder of innocent unborn image-bearers and further perpetuates the lie that God was mistaken in creating them male and female. Supporting this platform deeply sears the nation’s conscience and leads to the embrace of a form of moral polished hypocrisy.
I have great respect for John Piper. Thanks for bringing balance and clarity to the consequences of policy sin especially if it is long term. TD
Honestly, John Piper for the last decade or so has been really disappointing. His monocovenantalism which he learned from Doug Wilson is so disturbing because it distorts the gospel of free grace.