CCM February 1983
On-Stage Communication, Off Stage Commitment
by Carolyn A. Burns
Benny Hester has enjoyed great success in
contemporary Christian music the last couple of years. Much of that success is
due to his unusual vocals, his songs, his commitment, and his work with
Michael Omartian, who produced Benny's 1980 LP, Nobody Knows Me Like You.
Benny appears to be a quiet-type guy, but underneath his reserve, there's a
bubbling river of personality, friendliness, and genuine Christian
brotherhood. He is married to an equally bubbly and gracious woman named
Susan. They have two children, Eric (10), who favors Benny and wants to be in
his Daddy's band when he grows up, and Nikki (6), a budding beauty who takes
after her mother in charm and poise.
Benny's third Christian album, Legacy,
this time co-produced by himself and John Guess under the direction of
Omartian, will soon be released on Myrrh, while at nearly the same time, Myrrh
is also re-releasing Be A Receiver (originally called Benny Hester),
his first Christian album, formerly on Spirit Records.
CCM: I understand your ministry has
gone through a great change in the last couple years. Can you tell me more
about that change?
Benny: Well, when I say the change
came in our ministry, I mean it came in our life, because our ministry is
obviously an extension of who we are. It isn't two separate worlds - it's who
we are, who Jesus has made us. About a year ago, we decided to do something
that really, first of all, sort of scared me, because I didn't feel that I was
prepared, but I felt like the Lord really wanted us to do it. We started
closing all of our own concerts and that meant that I would speak each
evening. I wuold normally speak between my tunes throughout the evenings, but
I really wanted each evening to have a real pointed purpose, and that purpose
was to see people become Christians, and to see Christians encouraged. We
really started having a burden for those Christians who were going through
broken marriages, and people who were hurting and who were really suffering -
people who were experiencing real tragedies. We became very sensitive to those
people.
CCM: Why would closing your own
concerts help those people?
Benny: It's very heartbreaking to do
a concert and have someone else come on after you and begin to talk about
community affairs, or to talk about omething totally insensitive to what God
was doing... Although we were sharing things and our music said things, it was
just very, very disheartening not to have an opportunity for people to respond
in some way to what was being said...
There isn't any format; I don't always have people come forward, although most
of the time I do. It can be many different ways - however the Lord would be
leading in that evening. But the main thing is that it didn't stay bottled up
inside of a person. We wanted it to be a two-way street. We wanted people to
hear the truth, many for the first time, and then be able to act upon that.
For those Christians who were going through a time of suffering, or hurt, or
bitterness, or anger, or growing cold in their relationship, we wanted to
communicate to them also, and we really designed the evening to minister to
both people. At the end of evenings we make ourselves available as much as
possible to have people come forward.
CCM: When you first began this new
direction, how did you feel about it?
Benny: When I started doing this I
did not feel equipped for it, but we just started in a very sensitive way to
let people know that we really wanted to close their evening. People were very
open to that. I, at that point, had to be a better communicator than I had
ever been before. I had to say clearly what my thoughts were, and one of the
problems—in my life and in our ministry all the way up to that time—was
that I had many, many things to say and I just couldn’t say them. I would
get down from the stage each evening and all those things would be bottled up
inside me. I knew that the Lord wanted me to say them, but I was too timid or
afraid, I was too conscious of what people would think if I talked too much.
There was really no time that I ever opened up and did any speaking that I
ever felt like I was communicating what I really wanted to. And the Lord
honestly did a real miracle just by helping me. My speech cleared up—I used
to be timid, and I’d sort of stutter. I didn’t really stutter, but I would
just never get to the point of what I was saying. The Lord just made the
points, and the things that He was telling me in my own heart came out very
clearly.
CCM: Many people come to your
concerts simply to be entertained, and they know that’s why they go. How do
you address that person?
Benny: That doesn’t bother me. If
they come to be entertained, that’s great. We hope that the music is of the
very top quality. When I write songs, I write with every bit of my skill. But
I write because I want to communicate with the greatest amount of people I
can. That’s why I write.... I wouldn’t write music if people didn’t want
to listen to it. It’s a neat way to express how I feel and what the Lord’s
doing in my life, but the main reason I write is to communicate something to
people. I want them to enjoy it first so they might hear what it has to say.
The same thing with our evenings. I want them to be an evening where, hey,
you're not going to be let down musically. But for whatever reason you came,
there’s going to be a change in your life. That’s what we pray for. I saw
this in a big way when “Nobody Knows Me Like You” crossed over to the
secular charts. I guess it got to be like 41 on the aduLt contemporary charts,
and many people started coming to our concerts who had heard the song on
secular radio. Our crowds really did go up sharply. Many people who were not
Christians came because of this song. Some of them, quite frankly, would hear
it was a Christian concert and they would leave. But many stayed. They liked
what they heard although they may not have agreed with what we were saying
about the Lord. Many of them came to know the Lord at the end of the evening,
and they never thought they would be at a place where Christians were
gathered.
CCM: What are some of the topics you
speak about on tours?
Benny: We are very sensitive to
people who are experiencing hard times. When I say that, I don’t
particularly mean a down-and-outer, but those who are going through family
stress, who are separated, who art in the middle of divorces—we’re talking
to Christians, and there are thousands of them, We went through a tremendously
hard time in our marriage, too....
The whole reason this new album came about is because about two years ago,
when we were just beginning the recording part of Nobody Knows Me Like, Sue
and I went through a very difficult time in our marriage, We did not really,
honestly know where we were going and exactly where we would end up, because
we were very discouraged. We were going through probably the greatest stress
that we had ever gone through. For a time, for about 3 1/2 months, we were
actually separated. We can talk about that real easily now because things have
changed so radically but it did make us sensitive to those who are going
through divorces and separations. We have prayed for many, many people,
consistently every night.
I think the one thing the Lord told me through that time is that when we are
experiencing our toughest time, stick with God’s principles. Sometimes they
are very difficult when people are giving you so many different kinds of
advice. We as Christians do have to be strong. This doesn’t mean just when
things are going well; it means when things are falling apart and we’re
being totally taken to our very most emotional limits.
People, Christians, and I’m included in this—I was shocked at the way
Christians reacted to what we were going through. They said many ugly things
to us, to me.... But it was like people, I don't want to say everyone, its
just that I saw a varied type of reaction. Some people were very encouraging,
and some people said, ‘Well, it’s over.' The Lord told me, “Your
marriage isn’t going to fall apart.” And I knew this in my own heart.
Although I’d seen many Christian marriages fall apart I knew from the Lord
that ours wouldn’t. It was the most difficult time in my life. It changed
me. And I’m sure it brought about a lot of this change in my life and
ministry in this form of communicating.
CCM: Do you feel that your musical
ministry was getting in the way of your marriage—with the recording, the
touring, the enthusiastic fans?
Benny: That’s what everyone
thought.... It wasn’t anything that anyone could guess. I think the biggest
thing for a person who is ministering to someone who’s going through a
broken marriage or some sort of separation or divorce-—no matter what stage
it’s in—is first of all, do not assess it. Everybody tries to assess it
from the outside, and no one can do that.
People would look at Sue and saw, “Well, it’s because Benny travels” or
“because he's going all the time.’ That wasn’t it. It was none of those
things. We didn’t even know what it was; we didn’t even understand. Now,
as we look back, we’re starting to see why things happened, and we realize
that a big part of it was just a lack of communication, and a real spiritual
deception.... It’s like Satan would just pull a blind over your face so you
couldn’t see the truth about what’s going on. But we have become very
sensitive to those who are hurting, because I don’t think I’ve ever hurt
so much in my life. It really twisted me inside out and made me examine
myself. It brought about a communication between us, and that made me a
different person.
CCM: What, besides the Lord, would
you say was the healing factor in your marriage?
Benny: You know how you always look
for friends—you know, who offer, ‘You want me to go talk to Sue?” or
“Is there something I can do?” People wanted to mediate. What the Lord
told me is, “It’s not going to be the words of any man that are going to
bring you two together and change your marriage. It’s not going to be a
book, it’s not going to be a song, it’s not going to be all the things
that you think in the natural that you try to grab a hold of." He said,
‘‘It’s going to be me.’’
It does sound sometimes trite to say, “Oh, the Lord did it,” or
"The Lord brought it back together," but I've got to tell you
something. He honestly did do this, because it was spiritual. He even used the
children. They were praying for us the whole time.
CCM: Back onto a brighter note, can
you tell us more about the upcoming album?
Benny: The title of this album is Legacy
and what it obviously encompasses is that
we do leave something, not only to our
children, but to the world. We leave things
to people that we touch. Everyone you touch,
you are leaving something to them and for them. Every evening that we go out,
we realize that we are touching people’s lives and leaving this trail
wherever we go.
This album is something special to us. It’s the first time that I feel like
we have opened up. I’ve always been timid, first of all, and very private,
second of all. This is the first time I feel like where we’re going is
honestly how I feel. We’re much more careful. I have so much more direction
than I ever had. I know exactly what I want this album to sound like, I know
what I want it to say, I know what the finished product should be. I knew what
the cover should be. Every direction, things are clear. They’re not all
muddled anymore. I feel like it really is us now, whereas in the past it’s
been more of an experimenting.
CCM: What kind of plans have been
made to market Legacy? Are there any songs spotted for secular airwaves
at this point?
Benny: I don’t think there really
are. I think there are some songs on this album that can get a lot of play on
secular stations. But we didn’t design it this way, and I don’t think
there are any plans for that to happen. At least for me there aren’t. And if
it does, I’ll be real happy. But that may never happen again, and I don’t
look for it, and I’m not going to push for It.
CCM: Benny, what keeps you on the
road doing what you do so well? Is it that you’re a die-hard rocker and
cannot let your guitar rest?
Benny: Well, I wouldn’t say it’s
because of the music. Although I love it and it’s challenging, it doesn’t
motivate me to go tramping all around this county and other countries.... As
far as rock ‘n’ roll is concerned, I’m a father and a husband: I’m not
a weird rock ‘n’ roll crazy, dark, weird person. I’m not creeping
around. The style of music that I do just pours out of me and it’s the best
way for me to communicate.... I have fun, and I want to present it well, but
what motivates me is to see God do what our song’s ahout. He takes things
out of the natural and puts them into the supernatural. He changes people’s
lives, and that’s what makes me go.
