Friday
Mar232012

Was Ralph Winter’s career all about Shalom? Part II
By Brian Lowther
Shalom between People and Creation
The last of Dr. Winter’s projects I’d like to explore in regards to Shalom is the Roberta Winter Institute. Late in his life he began to realize that even if the gospel was readily available to every people group on earth, even if mankind could make major inroads into the worst cultural, economic and political problems, people would still get sick. People would still get heart disease or malaria or cancer.
Additionally, he came to believe that one of the largest impediments to overcoming the roots of human problems was the factor of rampant sickness and disease. As an example, he would often point to disease as a major obstacle in overcoming poverty. “If four out of five members of the family are sick,” he’d say, “then the family is in poverty.”
On top of that, he knew that when believers tackle major world problems it gives credibility to the message we preach. This is exemplified best by the marvelous efforts of Christians down through the centuries in establishing hospitals, health clinics and medical missions. Dr Winter’s question came down to this: our many successes notwithstanding, why is it so difficult to find an example of a coordinated, theologically driven effort to eradicate diseases, to go to the very root of the problem?
Thus, he established the Roberta Winter Institute (RWI), in honor of Roberta, his late wife who died of cancer, and for the express reason of exploring God's will for humanity in relation to the troubling realities of disease and evil. Through the RWI he hoped to ignite a theological shift in the church about disease and the role of believers in eradicating it.
In regards to establishing Shalom between people and creation, most would think of our stewardship of the environment, our protection of plant and animal life, or our work to reduce mankind’s exploitation of the earth’s natural resources. But we could say Dr. Winter realized that there was a whole category of our existence that wasn’t even being thought of in these terms. I’m speaking of microbiological life like harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites, which may represent the best example of lack of shalom between people and creation. If we could find a way to establish perfect Shalom between people and microbiological life, how many diseases would simply vanish? All?