For those of you that may not know, David Hasz is the director of the Honor Academy at Teen Mania. He has a very visible leadership presence on campus – in fact, every part of the Honor Academy bears his fingerprints.
Now, it’s normal for people to look up to their “hero” or to a man of God they admire. To some point that is normal and healthy.
However, the level of hero worship (and I do mean worship) given to Dave Hasz by the interns is excessive and unhealthy. It is not appropriate for a “man of God” to allow and/or encourage this kind of thing. Here are just a few samples I’ve seen around the internet. If this is just what is on the internet, you can only imagine the intensity of the actual environment within the Honor Academy.
Facebook Group: Dave Hasz would kick Chuck Norris’ butt (2021 Update: link is now broken, but I definitely remember this mentality during my time in 2007)
Here is a sampling from that page:
– Jesus walked on water, Dave Hasz swims through land.
– When the devil goes to sleep every night, he checks under his bed for Mr. Hasz.
– The story of Adam and Eve hiding from God in the book of genesis is actually a parabole. Its really talking about Dave Hasz looking for the two interns who commited dismissable acts….
And from a recent comment on Dave’s own Facebook Wall:
Wouldn’t it be crazy if we got to Heaven, and God’s voice sounded like Mr. Hasz and he said…”Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Heaven. Go roll the clouds.”
In his day, the Apostle Paul would have been horrified to discover that people spoke about him in this way. He went out of his way to make sure no one treated him that way, even calling himself “the chief of sinners.”
In fact, I don’t find anywhere in Scripture where this sort of behavior is acceptable. Only one person deserves this level of praise, and it is not David Hasz.
17 comments:
Wow, these comments are really sick! How can one even compare David Hasz to Jesus?
October 20, 2009 4:03 PM
Ben said…
haha, the first few are just funny. have you not seen those chuck norris jokes before? now, the last one is weird and wrong for sure.
i think it would be fun to start doing the ‘barack obama is your new bicycle’ jokes for hasz though.
DAVE HASZ HELP YOU MOVE YOUR SOFA.
DAVE HASZ BUILT YOU A ROBOT.
DAVE HASZ SKATED HERE ALL THE WAY FROM THE BEACH JUST TO SEE YOU.
October 20, 2009 5:28 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
Sure, I’ve seen the Chuck Norris jokes before…and they are funny. But the excessive amount of these jokes and the nature of some of them make them over the line, in my opinion.
Can you honestly imagine the Apostle Paul laughing at these if they were said about him?
October 20, 2009 7:12 PM
Anonymous said…
i’m with ben about the chuck norris/dave hasz jokes…and the weird, creepiness of the last one.
i was the class that went from calling the leaders dave/ron to mr. hasz and mr. luce. i guess it was respectful, but i don’t know if i ever called them that. 😀
October 20, 2009 7:45 PM
Ben said…
having looked at them again, you’re right. they are more disturbing than anything… but the devil checking under his bed is funny.
did anyone here ever see the photoshopped picture of ron luce floating through hoops at a homestar runner circus? yeah, that one made a few waves.
October 20, 2009 8:59 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
Haven’t heard of that one, Ben. Do you have a copy?
October 20, 2009 9:23 PM
Ben said…
i wish. it was awesome.
October 20, 2009 11:44 PM
mybowsandarrows.wordpress.com said…
Have you talked to Mr. Hasz about this? From my personal experiences as an intern, GI and staff member, Mr. Hasz has always been open to correction, teachable and understanding.
It would really be interesting to see how Mr. Hasz would address the issues you bring up and the fact that some folks had tragic, rather than growing experiences at the Honor Academy.
It might help some folks to see what he would have to say in face of these facts.
October 21, 2009 1:15 PM
Anonymous said…
I dont think it’s so much an issue of what Mr. Hasz has to say about it. It’s the fruit of what’s happened. I can FULLY see how this is very true about the H.A. Mr. Hasz is involved with EVERYTHING (Even the basketball court is named 3Hasz court or something like that.) He’s the leader of ESOAL. The biggest event in the ministry with the highest pressure, if you want to ring out (which I proudly did. lol…) you have to go to him and tell him you want to ring out. He teaches world view and foundations. the most influential class’s. he leads corporate once a week. In all the BIG areas he’s the leader. He doesn’t really speak in the fasting LTE’s (also known at T.M. as the sleeping LTE.)… I wonder why…
ok, that was mean, but it’s true!
He makes sure his face is there when anything important and influential is happening with the interns. Which sounds good, and like his job. but it sets him up to be a prime candidate for “hero worship” for sure.
most interns think Mr. Hasz is the top dog of spiritual leadership and wish they could all be like him. -I felt like that at least, and was involved in many a conversation involving Dave Hasz Chuck Noris jokes….
October 21, 2009 4:53 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
bowsandarrows,
I spoke to Dave Hasz when I was an intern. I asked him why even though I was seeking God with all my heart, I could not sense his presence or hear his voice. It felt as if God has left me and I could not figure out why. No one could help me. I finally met with Dave.
Do you know what he told me?
Did he tell me that a desert experience is a normal part of the Christian life?
Did he assure me that it had nothing to do with my efforts or lack of efforts in any area?
Did he comfort me that God had not left me?
No.
He told me it must be because I was not involved enough in a local church. Just get more involved and everything will be fine.
????????????????????
In that moment he had the opportunity to spare me from YEARS of confusion, depression and feelings of abandonment.
Thanks for nothing, Hasz.
October 21, 2009 11:42 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
And just to clarify, his comment made absolutely NO sense since I was already going to church every Sunday. How much more involved could I be given the ridiculously busy schedule of an intern’s life? We had almost zero free time and nearly every night of the week was scheduled with cd class, core group meeting, etc. His answer was completely non-sensical!
October 21, 2009 11:43 PM
mybowsandarrows.wordpress.com said…
I can see how that answer doesn’t make sense.
I can’t speak for Mr. Hasz in regards to his answer…because I wasn’t referencing a single experience, but as I mentioned previously, I would genuinely be interested in seeing what he would have to say about all these terrible experiences.
Obviously some time has gone by from your own experience. It may help some folks to see someone who is in leadership take responsibility for some of these things.
October 22, 2009 12:47 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
I agree. I think that part of the hurt comes from the fact that no one in leadership ever seems to take responsibility for the wounds they have inflicted. A genuine apology would go a long way.
October 22, 2009 1:47 PM
Anonymous said…
I would really like to see what Ron or Dave has to say about all the pain, guilt and depression many of us have suffered at the hands of TM too!
RA, I can’t believe Dave told you that you didn’t feel God, because you need to be more involved in a local church! Really, you think the God who sent his son to die for us sinners would say to you at that time “I’m with holding my presence from you until you do more church work for me!” That makes no sense. Based on the stories I’m reading, Dave’s theology seems really messed up.
October 24, 2009 10:32 PM
Anonymous said…
ever heard of a joke folks?
November 23, 2009 11:32 AM
Stephanie said…
Last anonymous- ever heard of jokes being taken too far?
Big difference. I even emailed Hasz about it when I was an intern (of course, back then I thought he was basically Jesus), jokingly sending him the link to the Facebook groups and asking if if was true that the Big Bang was really his first overhand clap.
He said it was true (obviously he was joking as well).
All that to say that yes, he’s heard of them, and yes he does find them funny! HOWEVER, I do not know if he is aware of the creeper, worshipful ones, or if he’s addressed it to the internship. That’s what I know, but I do want to give both sides of it.
(For the record, a lot of Chuck Norris jokes hack me off too.)
December 9, 2009 2:08 PM
Noelle said…
First off, I want to say this website is amazing!
I was a August Intern in ’08 for about a week. One of the many reasons why I hopped on a greyhound bus to Indiana was because whenever David Hasz or Ron Luce would walk in the crowds would go wild.
It just made me sick.
December 19, 2009 1:13 PM