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A picture of this scene landed on the front page of newspapers across the country, symbolizing what has suddenly become deeply important to Americans: national unity.

In the weeks following the terrorist attacks, Americans have crowded into churches. Many congregations rebroadcast President Bush's memorable address to Congress and gave stirring patriotic sermons. Mostly it was the right kind of civil religion, urging us to be the best of citizens wherever God places us.

We are also busy comforting the grief-stricken and reminding our leaders about Christian teaching on the just use of military force. But what's missing in the flurry of flag-waving and comfort-giving is something that should be the church's primary task: calling itself, and then the nation, to repentance.

For years, many of us have only half-jokingly said that if God doesn't bring judgment on America soon, he'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. I approach this subject gingerly because it's easy to be misunderstood, and I try to avoid end-times prophecy that makes Christians appear irrelevant to the world.

Still, the question must be asked: Can we discern God's purposes in these earthshaking events? Might God be using these attacks as a warning of impending judgment?

We must be careful how we raise this question. One prominent religious leader publicly blamed homosexuals and abortionists for bringing God's judgment on America. But this is not a time for angry finger-pointing; our job is to bring Americans together so we can teach them. Besides, when it comes to judgment, we need to look a little closer to home.

Judgment always begins with God's people. So the first message of the church must point to our own need for repentance. And if we are honest, we have much to repent for; our idols look little different from the culture's.

Time after time, throughout the Old Testament, we see God's people falling into the sin of idolatry, being oppressed by their enemies, repenting, and then being delivered by God. The message is clear: We must repent for ourselves and our nation, just as Nehemiah did before God appointed him to leadership. Later he led the Jews (recently returned from Persian exile) in corporate confession and repentance.

Jesus himself was confronted by people asking why bad things happen to good people—for instance, those who had recently been murdered in the temple. Jesus gave no soothing explanations. Instead, he reminded them of others killed by a falling tower and said, "Repent or you, too, will perish." We should understand repentance as Martin Luther did—central to life in Christ.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that God is using these attacks as a sign of judgment. What will save us, then, are not the Marines, cruise missiles, satellites or smart bombs; the only thing that will save us is deep and genuine repentance. William Wilberforce was a Christian member of Parliament who fought to abolish slavery in the British Empire. During a crucial moment in that campaign he said that his hope for Britain depended "not so much on her navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ, that their prayers may yet prevail."

We must always be careful about how we express this to our friends. We're not blaming God for terrorist attacks. God does not create evil, but he does use it to his purposes. That's a big difference. I've been deeply burdened since September 11. I find myself at times crying out for God's mercy—for myself, the church, my ministry, and our country.

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November 12 2001, Vol. 45, No. 14