Kathryn Freeman: Pursuing truth and justice in Jesus’ name

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Kathryn Freeman is the director of public policy for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.

The Christian Life Commission is the ethics and justice ministry of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and strives to help Texas Baptists live out the commands of Micah 6:8 to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.”

Freeman speaks with elected officials and teaches church leaders about biblically-based policy principles that promote the common good and human flourishing.

What do Texas Baptists look like from where you are?

Texas Baptists are a diverse group of churches and people who cooperate to share the good news, increase the number and strength of Jesus’ disciples and serve their communities through ministry and missions.

What Baptist principle means the most to you, and why?

The authority of Scripture for my faith and practice.

It is easy to create a God in our own image totally divorced from the truth of Scripture. Particularly in today’s culture a lot of things sound close to the truth, but are not actually the truth and in some cases are a perversion of the truth.

For example, the parable of the Good Samaritan is about being a neighbor to those who we might otherwise despise for cultural reasons. But, I recently read a story of a woman who believed Jesus’ command to love your neighbor meant we are only to love American neighbors.

It is very easy to laugh, but there is a lot of twisted truth in our culture today, so for me it’s more important than ever to stand firmly on truth.

Describe a formative experience that guides your ministry.

When I was in college, I mentored a young woman through my church. She decided she wanted to be the first one in her family to go to college. She was a good student from a good family, but when I started SAT tutoring with her, she struggled.


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It was frustrating for both of us—for her because she felt like her dream was slipping away and for me because it was clear she had been given a subpar education because she was a poor, black girl from a less desirable part of town.

As someone who had grown up with almost every advantage, it was my first experience with systemic injustice—in this instance, the quality of education being determined by one’s zip code.

My mentee eventually went into the Air Force and is going to college on the G.I. Bill, but our relationship spurred my desire to go to law school and pursue public policy. My mentee helped me understand God’s heart for justice and for the impoverished and the vulnerable.


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