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As president of ProServ Television and cofounder of the Association of Tennis Professionals, Briner played a key role in producing sports programming and paved the way for tennis to become a mass-market TV sport.

Well-versed and well-traveled in the secular workplace, Briner surveyed the landscape and found believers largely missing in action. He proposed that people of faith enthusiastically shape American society. "Instead of running from it, we need to rush into it," he wrote. "And instead of just hanging around the fringes of our culture, we need to be right smack dab in the middle of it."

The Christian recording industry not only has been influenced by Briner; it has also taken his message from the bookshelf to the CD rack. This summer Squint released Roaring Lambs, an original collection from singers and groups who identify with the call for Christians to pursue excellence in the workplace and demonstrate character and conviction in the world. The musicians include Jars of Clay, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Burlap to Cashmere, Over the Rhine, and Bill Mallonee and Vigilantes of Love.

In early June, Squint concluded a promotional tour by taking the Roaring Lambs message to the nation's capital for a ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Attended by more than 200 Capitol Hill staffers, the two-hour event brought together representatives from the worlds of politics, music, and entertainment to celebrate the contributions of Roaring Lambs to other cultural realms.

Four members of Congress—three Representatives and one Senator—gave their testimonies and urged young Christians to reclaim the culture by pursuing careers in public service, journalism, and entertainment. Ohio Democrat Tony Hall told the story of being introduced to an audience as both a U.S. Congressman and a Christian. "It got real quiet," he said. "An elderly man down front couldn't take it much longer and said, 'Make up your mind, buddy, you can't be both.'"

Television and film producer Ken Wales (of the CBS series Christy), another friend of Briner's, spoke of the need for a biblical worldview in Hollywood. And Roaring Lambs Awards went to two organizations that have integrated their Christian values in the marketplace: Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable housing for the needy, and Pura Vida, an online coffee company that gives its proceeds to missions and charity work in Costa Rica.

Not everyone is impressed with the Roaring Lambs recording. David Drury, a music critic for Beliefnet.com, believes the album's message suffers because the contributing artists "all sell and play primarily to Christians." He suggests it's just more preaching to the choir.

"None of these artists will break away from the industry that adores them anytime soon," Drury wrote. "When Squint founder Steve Taylor writes on the liner notes that these artists 'have, in their own way, journeyed beyond the invisible walls of the evangelical subculture,' it is a hard pill to swallow."

Drury wonders why the album's producers did not feature songs from established mainstream artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Lenny Kravitz, Johnny Cash, Bono of U2, and Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes. Drury argues that these artists are most faithful to Briner's concept.

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October 2 2000, Vol. 44, No. 11