During the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Incheon, South Korea, sections of the Seoul Statement relating to the church's response to homosexuality were changed. The Lausanne statement's editorial team adjusted two paragraphs addressing homosexuality and says more “non-substantive” changes are likely.
According to the current version of the Seoul Statement posted on the Lausanne website, paragraph 69 describes the church's understanding and response to same-sex attracted Christians. Compared to the original version mentioned in a report by Christian Daily, a Korean Christian media outlet, the revision removes phrases such as “ignorance and prejudice” and “discrimination and injustice”, and the challenges of “many local churches” was simplified to “Christian communities. At the same time, the original statement of “we repent for our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ” was changed to “we repent for our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ”.
Paragraph 69 as originally posted reads:
We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges in many local churches due to ignorance and prejudice, and have consequently suffered discrimination and injustice within Christian communities. We repent of our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
Revised paragraph 69 reads:
We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges even in Christian communities. We repent of our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
In addition to this, the phrase “faithful believers” in paragraph 70 has been altered. The original version reads, “We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognise within our communities the presence of faithful believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship.” The revised version removes the word “faithful”, simplifying the phrase to “believers” to avoid misunderstandings.
According to Christian Today Korea, the Korean religious community reacted to the passage in question, saying the statement shows that “some local churches or Christian communities may have done wrong to homosexuals, but this presents it as if many local churches and Christian communities did wrong, even though most local churches and Christian communities did not."
However, when asked about the change by Christian Daily International at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lausanne spokesman said the edit was actually made before the Seoul statement was first released, calling it an “oversight”. He says the changes were made to ensure more precise wording and that most of the tweaks were minor changes in the editorial process. He added that in the future, “ there may be [further] changes, but those changes are not substantive or significant”.
The early release of the Seoul Statement, rather than after the conference, also raised eyebrows among some participants. David Bennett, Program Director of the Foruth Lausanne Congress, said the statement "stands as part of the larger collection of key documents within the Lausanne Movement, building on the legacy of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment. It is designed not to replace, but to complement these foundational documents, providing fresh insights into contemporary theological and missional challenges."
(Contributed to by Christian Daily International)
