CHAPTER 5: THINGS YET UNSEEN
4.1 Buchan
Upon examination of the responses to questions regarding the definition of hope it becomes apparent that there are common themes found throughout the interviews. In this section the study attempts to identify those themes, again themes that are typical of the fundamentalist paradigm:
4.1.1 Salvation / Eternal Life
The most common comment made by Buchan’s supporters when asked about hope related to the concept of eternal life as stated by Marneweck: “it’s the fact that I know that Jesus have died for my sins… God have granted me the grace and that my sins are forgiven and that Jesus is the mediator and the way that I can come to God at any time, day or night, and that gives me hope… whatever the circumstances is (sic)” (Louis Marneweck, interview by Neil Vels, 11 November 2011 in Standerton).
Marneweck was not alone in his assertion. Other comments made were, “there is a future in eternity with him. And that is a massive hope,” (Habgood); “Jesus can become the point of deliverance and the point of salvation for everybody,” (Gerhard*); “It is to
hold fast to the belief that Jesus was on the earth, that he died for your sins and that we will be with him in heaven one day and that we will have eternal life with him (Manie*, translation). Others made similar statements (Crookes and Smit). Stols summed up his hope in eternal life in this way:
God promises us a life in eternity, a life of eternity with him. And that’s a hope…
I want desperately to have that promise fulfilled for me… I look forward to the day I die. Not that I’ve got a death wish! But I look forward to seeing the people that have gone before me… So, ja, that’s my hope. My hope is real. Because, like I say, I know his promise is true, and I just hope that his promise for me can be fulfilled. So that’s my hope. (Dave Stols, interview by Neil Vels, 25 November 2011 in Brakpan).
4.1.2 Something in the Future
While hope in eternal life obviously deals with what is to come, another aspect of respondents’ understanding of hope was that hope is something that we anticipate:
Hope, if you want to look at practically it’s something that you hope for, something that you wish for yourself out there. Hope is something that you’re looking to… you’ve got this hope that something will improve your life, an intangible that is out there… (Trevor Spencer-Crooks, interview by Neil Vels, 3 October 2011 in Brackenhurst).
Others also expressed the sense of hoping that things will turn out well, and Habgood spoke of the hope for the future being the hope of transformation, that as men follow Jesus they begin to change, and his hope is seeing that change in others. (Tony Habgood, interview by Neil Vels, 30 December 2011 in Benoni).
4.1.3 Strength to Carry On
An important aspect of hope for Buchan’s followers is that which gives them the ability to carry on in spite of the difficulties they may face. Habgood believes that the
difficulties he faces, although being troublesome, are not the real issues and because of that he can hope for a better life (Tony Habgood, interview by Neil Vels, 30 December
2011 in Benoni) and Cawood suggests that she can have hope in the Lord because there is nothing in her life that he hasn’t allowed. Her task, she says, is to learn to trust him in the hard times (Yvonne Cawood, interview by Neil Vels, 2 December 2011 in Platrand).
James* says this:
In my environment now I can see first-hand almost everyday see how the enemy tries just to do the opposite, to give you no hope. I’ve experienced it… where can I get the courage, the hope, the belief to carry on? And so just before you go out the door you ask God, give me today the freedom and peace just to relax and face the day with him. With the truth, not with the hopelessness of the world. Because they’re hopeless (James*, interview by Neil Vels, 6 December 2011 in
Standerton, portions translated from Afrikaans).
4.1.4 Dissatisfaction with Self and the World
Many of the respondents in this paradigm expressed dissatisfaction with themselves and the world in general, whether in the sense of “the world” being a definition for the secular and thus in opposition to God and the sacred, in the sense of others who are not Christians or who believe differently, or in the sense of the darkness within themselves.
A common theme was that of identifying themselves as sinners hardly deserving of God’s grace, for example Habgood, “hope, number one, is that I can be the person that God wants me to be, even in spite of my past and in spite of who I am now, that God can use me” (Tony Habgood, interview by Neil Vels, 30 December 2011 in Benoni).
In regard to the “world” Naudé suggests that we should not trust it because if we do we will be disappointed – our only hope can be in God (Trevor Naudé, interview by Neil Vels, 3 October 2011 in Brackenhurst), and Gerhard*, after mentioning eternal life as his first hope, goes on to say,
The hope there is that we can be delivered out of the world that tries to capture you, takes hold of you and wastes your time, you can be delivered and be set free and be transferred to a new kingdom which is called the kingdom of God
(Gerhard*, interview by Neil Vels, 14 November 2011 in Standerton).