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When the music group Sixpence None the Richer appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to perform the hit pop song "Kiss Me," lead singer Leigh Nash talked with Letterman, remarkably, about God's love.

Prompted by Letterman's question about the band's name, Nash explained that it referred to an illustration from C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. Nash retold the tale of an English boy who asks his father for sixpence, which he uses to purchase a gift for his dad. The father gladly accepts the gift but realizes he's not any richer because he gave his son the money in the first place.

"C. S. Lewis was comparing that to his belief that God gave him and us the gifts that we possess to serve him," Nash told Letterman on the July 7, 1999, broadcast. "We should do it humbly, with humble hearts, realizing how we got the gifts in the first place."

"That's beautiful," Letterman responded. "It makes perfect sense. If we could just keep that little sliver of enlightenment with us, things would be so much better."

Not your typical late-night TV banter.

Sixpence capitalized on the popularity of its wildly successful and catchy pop tune—a song, by the way, with no spiritual content to speak of—to steer the conversation to higher ground.

Sharing that "little sliver of enlightenment" with a national audience is the sort of breakthrough that entertainment executive Bob Briner had in mind when he wrote Roaring Lambs (Zondervan, 1993). Briner urged Christians to engage the culture instead of merely complaining that society does not share their worldview.

Steve Taylor, president of Sixpence's Nashville–based label, Squint Entertainment, cites the exchange on the Letterman show as a prime example of bringing salt and light to the surrounding culture. "I don't claim that something like that changes the world or revolutionizes society," Taylor says. "But I think Bob's point would be that, without moments like that going on in culture on a regular basis, the culture decays just a little more, and it gets a little darker."

In his book, Briner contended that the church does very little to influence the culture. "In the arts, entertainment, media, education, and other culture-shaping venues of our country," he wrote, "the church has abdicated its role as salt and light." Briner challenged fellow believers to set their sights beyond the "phenomenal subculture" Christians have created.

Briner died of cancer on June 18, 1999, while writing Final Roar, which Broadman & Holman published in September.

It's been seven years since the first printing of Roaring Lambs, but the book's concept has taken on a new life, mostly because Briner's approach to faith and witness struck a chord with contemporary Christian music (CCM) artists and executives. In fact, many of them established close ties with Briner after reading his book, turning to him for business advice, encouragement, and mentoring.

Why the attraction? "Many Christian musicians I know never intended to be preaching to the choir," says Taylor, a singer-turned-record executive.

"When Bob's book came along, it was a sort of call to arms. It really resonated within the Christian music community. In spite of all the fantastic infrastructure the church has built, in spite of the infrastructure Christian music has built, when it comes right down to it, we're not really having much of an effect on the culture at large. His manner was very encouraging in the book, yet there was no missing what he was saying."

Briner practiced what he preached. As an Emmy Award–winning TV executive, a professional sports agent, and a businessman, he earned the right to be heard in the larger culture. He worked with athletic superstars, including Michael Jordan, Arthur Ashe, and Dave Dravecky.

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October 2 2000, Vol. 44, No. 11