But we love those sins!

Though I have never seen where he said it, I have been told that St. Augustine did indeed say:  "People reject the Church because She speaks against the sins they love."   He should know.  He had many favorite sins along the expanse of his life before coming to faith.  He lived for many years in pursuit of pleasure, pride, and worldly desires.  He spoke these words as someone who had been infatuated with his sins until the rest he sought remained elusive and was rediscovered repentance.  He did not say this because it was a theory of his.  He got it.  Sin is addictive.  It captures the heart and transforms desire.  He hated calling his favorite behaviors sins and the whole idea of giving up those sins he loved.  He was speaking from his own painful experience. 

The Church does not tiptoe around our favorite sins (well, the Church should not be doing that).  Truth should not change to match our desires.  No, the Church is there to call us to repentance, to holiness, and to be free from those sins.  Lets be honest.  The call to repentance is uncomfortable just as repentance itself is uncomfortable.  God does not want us to remain as we are but is seeking to change us for our good and not for arbitrary or controlling purposes.  Jesus is “the light has come into the world, [but] the world loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19).  We think people are rejecting our worldview or the specific truths of creation, fall, redemption, etc., but they might be rejecting the calling to live differently, according to different values, and for a different goal and purpose.  God is not trying to end the party but is providing the best wine at the end and more of it than we ever expected.  

Whoever has made peace with a cherished sin will naturally see the Church, the call to repentance, and worship centered upon the Word and Sacraments as adversaries.  That is Augustine's point.  As such, it is also good to remember that the Church is not the one condemning sin but the Word of God.  The Scriptures call us to repentance, to admit our love and addiction to our favorite sins, and to a new life lived in response to a different voice than that of desire.  So when people reject the liturgy or preaching or catechesis, we think it is about a liturgical or preaching or teaching problem when in reality it is about sin.  Maybe it was always about sin?  Maybe sin and forgiveness are not antiquated ideas in our modern era.  Maybe it is the same issue as Eden.