Vaughan Roberts, “Same-Sex Attraction - A Battle I Face” - a Model of a Godly Response
In a tremendously brave move Vaughan Roberts, rector of St Ebbe’s, Oxford, and a prominent leader amongst English evangelicals has announced that he experiences same-sex attraction and yet he remains celibate since this is the clear teaching of Scripture. Vaughan has issued the following press release,
In the preface to a new edition of my book “Battles Christians Face”, which features eights areas of struggle, including homosexuality, I write that, to a greater or lesser degree, I face them all myself. Close family and friends have known for a considerable time that I experience same sex attraction. None of the issues in the book define me. As a single man I am celibate, because I believe the Bible teaches that the right context for sex is only in marriage between a man and a woman.
My motivation for writing the preface and answering the questions in the interview in “Evangelicals Now” is pastoral. I believe there is value in a greater openness to talk about these issues in evangelical churches. I hope to encourage those who experience same sex attraction and yet believe that fulness of life is to be found in Christ and holding to his teaching. Singleness can be challenging at times, but I have many good friends, and a loving family, and I thank God for the blessings and opportunities it offers.
As indicated in the release, there is a full interview with Vaughan in the October 2012 edition of Evanglicals Now, reproduced at the end of this article. In it, Vaughan makes a number of very helpful observations,
Does the disclosure that same sex attraction is one of your personal battles mean you are defining yourself as a homosexual?
No, it doesn’t. ... All of us are sinners, and sexual sinners. But, if we have turned to Christ, we are new creations, redeemed from slavery to sin through our union with Christ in his death and raised with him by the Spirit to a new life of holiness, while we wait for a glorious future in his presence when he returns.
These awesome realities define me and direct me to the kind of life I should live. In acknowledging that I know something of all eight battles covered in my book, therefore, I’m not making a revelation about my fundamental identity, other than that, like all Christians, I am a sinner saved by grace, called to live in the brokenness of a fallen world until Christ returns and brings all our battles to an end.
...
How do you think churches communicate [a] negative message?
The problem is largely caused by the fact that most of our comments on homosexuality are prompted, not primarily by a pastoral concern for struggling Christians, but by political debates in the world and the church. ...
Also, in countering the simplistic binary model of the world that people are either born gay or straight (or, occasionally, bi), we are prone to make overly dogmatic comments ourselves about causation and cure. These can be heard to imply that homosexual attraction is just a matter of personal choice. This only increases the sense of shame already felt by those who experience unwanted same-sex attraction and can leave them with the impression that this is a battle that is not safe to share with others in the church. I have become convinced, therefore, that we need not only a greater openness in discussing issues of sexuality, but also a more positive vision and presentation of the nature of faithful discipleship for those who struggle in this area.
...
And is change possible? Can these attractions be redirected or altered?
The development of sexuality is complex and is, I think, best understood as being on a spectrum, along which individuals can move, especially in the years soon after puberty, but also later. A small proportion of people, including Christians, find that they remain exclusively attracted to the same sex as they grow into mature adulthood. God has the power to change their orientation, but he hasn’t promised to and that has not been my experience.
Research suggests that complete change from exclusively homosexual desires to exclusively heterosexual ones is very rare.
While supporting the right of anyone to seek help to change if they wish, our emphasis needs to be on encouragement to be godly and content in current circumstances.
There’s plenty more very helpful material in the interview which is (I assume not coincidentally) conducted by Julian Hardyman, Senior Pastor of Eden Baptist Church where Roy Clements used to minister.
Vaughan’s interview, indeed the whole co-ordination of this release, is evidence of a continuing godly maturing not just in his own life but amongst evangelicals in general as they come to a more balanced and helpful position on this whole question. Insistence upon a God-given “cure” (something that, as Vaughan observes, the Scriptures never promise) has rightly been increasingly sidelined (but not rejected) in favour of the Biblical response of godly contentment in and through our struggles. Which is the model of a godly response to any of our temptations.
Well done Vaughan. Christian pastoral leadership at it’s best. Do keep him, and indeed all who struggle in this way, in your prayers.
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11 comments
What a tremendously helpful stand by an evangelical, particularly in the week when other supposed evangelicals post pieces supporting and validating homosexual relationships.
[1] Posted by David Ould on 9-26-2012 at 05:21 PM · [top]
Wow.
I’m impressed by his courage.
[2] Posted by Sarah on 9-26-2012 at 05:23 PM · [top]
A noble, godly and even heroic man. I doff my cap to his courage and heart.
[3] Posted by Jeffersonian on 9-26-2012 at 07:34 PM · [top]
This is a very brave move from Vaughan Roberts.
I hope I’m wrong, but I expect this will start a bit of a firestorm in the UK. Roberts and St Ebbes were on the front line in the successful attempt to stop Jeffrey John from getting a pointy hat in the Oxford Diocese.
Our Opponents are going to seize on this using the ‘closeted gay man with internalised homophobia hypocrisy’ card. Just you watch. They are going to be very upset, yet crowing with glee at the same time.
[4] Posted by Derek Smith on 9-27-2012 at 02:24 AM · [top]
FANTASTIC ARTICLE!!! I will be forwarding this widely.
Thank you so much David for bringing this to our attention.
Best thing I’ve read on Stand Firm in a long time. Not to denigrate other articles here, but this is just such good reading, and so encouraging to see this kind of evangelical clarity matched with deep pastoral sensitivity.
Awesome.
[5] Posted by Karen B. on 9-27-2012 at 09:27 AM · [top]
All of have a “dark side”. Personally, I find I must be on guard on several fronts.
I pray that God will relieve Mr. Roberts of this burden by taking way this desire - complete and total healing. Amen.
[6] Posted by B. Hunter on 9-27-2012 at 01:46 PM · [top]
This is excellent stuff—solid, theologically informed, real-life reflection from a man with the obvious credibility to say what he says, both because he is speaking to his own experience of same-sex attraction and because he has walked that path with Christian faithfulness. Thank God for witnesses like Fr. Roberts. The Church needs them.
[7] Posted by Firinnteine on 9-27-2012 at 02:06 PM · [top]
As much as I utterly agree with the sentiment, let’s not lose sight of the fact that one of the points of Vaughan’s interview is to stress that complete and total healing does often not occur and we have failed some by setting up the expectation of it.
Rather, Vaughan points to God’s sustaining through the difficulty - when I am weak, then I am strong. His grace is sufficient.
[8] Posted by David Ould on 9-27-2012 at 06:23 PM · [top]
RE: “one of the points of Vaughan’s interview is to stress that complete and total healing does often not occur and we have failed some by setting up the expectation of it.”
I agree. I have certain sinful proclivities that seem to be, um . . . quite long-lasting.
So far, the attraction to certain types of sin has not gone away.
[9] Posted by Sarah on 9-27-2012 at 09:14 PM · [top]
Thanks, David, for posting this. I am heartened by Vaughan’s example, and yet I am also both encouraged and a little challenged by this as well. Some SF readers/commenters may remember that I actually can relate very personally to Vaughan’s struggle.
It’s been some time since this was front-and-center in my life (the 1990s mainly), so my memory may be a bit fuzzy on details. But that seemed to be the heyday of the “change is possible” movement. There was such an emphasis on that particular variety of change that I was somewhat uncomfortable with it, even then.
However, there seems to be almost an over-correction afoot. It may not be Vaughan’s interview itself that concerns me - I actually find it refreshingly realistic. It also adds to his testimony that Vaughan continues in obedience to the Lord even when things aren’t easy. But today there are so many examples of compromise to the point of embracing the view that “change is impossible.”
I hold to the position that change is absolutely possible, but that God is sovereign and change rarely looks like what we expect. As just one small example, when I went through Living Waters some years ago, the course consisted of a minimum of 26 weekly chapters (depending on whether your leadership chose to include occasional breaks of a week so we could catch our breath). And a course designed to deal with sexual brokenness didn’t even touch upon sexuality until about week 16 or so - I distinctly remember “healthy heterosexuality” (what most of us thought we were there for) was the topic for week 19. Why did it take so long to get there? Because we had to cover so many other areas first: Who is God? How do we relate to Him? How does He relate to us? What idols have we created that we worship instead of Him? How have we sinned? How were we sinned against by others? How can we forgive? And we had to deal with each of these questions and the fallout from them one by one by one.
We want change on our own terms. We want it to be easy and straightforward. It’s not. Change is a journey. Change involves surprises. We want God to change our “problem” and send us on our merry way. God doesn’t want to do that. He wants us to turn to Him, to repent. In the sense that repentance involves a turning from sin and a turning towards holiness, that is change. God wants us as His own, warts, battle scars, and all. And personally, I’m glad He wouldn’t want it any other way.
[10] Posted by Reformed Wanderer on 9-28-2012 at 06:51 AM · [top]
Haydn Sennitt, who ministers in the area of unwanted SSA in Australia, posted his reaction to the Vaughan Roberts interview here on his blog.
Haydn touches on some areas that have been mentioned, but not discussed too much from what I’ve seen around the blogosphere. Even beyond the fact of Vaughan Roberts’ disclosing this particular struggle, but honestly that a Christian minister is so publicly disclosing *any* struggle, without being forced to due to a fall or being caught, is amazing. The sad this really is that it is amazing.
We all need to keep Vaughan Roberts (and anyone like him) in prayer.
[11] Posted by Reformed Wanderer on 9-29-2012 at 08:44 PM · [top]
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