Christian Songs on TV

I was watching the Desperate Housewives finale when a commercial for the summer drama Rookie Blue. The Canadian show is about young police officers who recently graduated from the Academy (think of it as Grey's Anatomy, but with police officers). The song they used was "Blink" by Australian band, Revive. The song is from their 2010 album, also called Blink. Also on the album, the song "Something Glorious" was used for a commercial for another ABC show, Secret Millionaire. The show follows millionaires as they live incognito in impoverished communities and give thousands of dollars to help improve those communities.

Of course, Revive wasn't the first band/Christian artist to have their work used in commercials. Krystal Meyers' "Make Some Noise" was used for NBC's  fall season promo. Needtobreathe's songs have been used in various NBC commercials and you probably heard their song "Something Beautiful" on an overstock.com ad. Speaking of overstock.com, they used a Switchfoot song for its Valentine's Day commercial. Even one of my favorite artists, Tobymac, had songs used for America's Got Talent.

While I'm happy that Christian artists are being used in commercials, sometimes I have to ask "why." Aren't Christians supposed to be separated from the "secular." However, the question should be "why not"? It's not about exposure or making money. As Christians, our job is to get the message of Christ out there. If it means using a 30-second snippet for a popular show or product, then why not?