Light and Darkness

I have always loved to read.  I actually review books on another blog, Book Reviews from a Christian Gal.  Recently, I have been reading My Name is Chloe by Melody Carlson.  This is a book that is about a 9th grader who becomes a Christian.

There are two things that I really enjoy about this book.  The first thing is that it shows how nonbelievers sometimes view Christians.  It illustrates this in the beginning of the book before the main character becomes a Christian.  She is often confused about all of the "rules" that seem to be involved in Christianity.  As she comes to learn more about God, she realizes that being a Christian is not about rules, but is about having a relationship with God.

The second thing that I really enjoy is that the book illustrates that new Christians often understand things about God that people who have been Christians for a while often forget.  New Christians can bring new things to fellowship.  The point that I want to talk about today is best illustrated through a quote from the book in which the main character, Chloe, is talking to her Christian friend, Laura:

"Do something for me, will you? Close the door and then turn out the lights, all of them." I waited for a few seconds. 
"Okay, I did it.  And now I'm standing in here in the dark.  Are you happy?"
"Right.  Now Turn the lights back on."
"okay.  I did."
"What happened to the dark, Laura?"
"Uh...it's gone."
"Right.  Now what happened to the darkness when you turned off the light?"
I heard her gasp. "Oh, man, I think I get it!"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought too.  If we remove ourselves from the so-called darkness, then what is left?"
"Just darkness."
"And excuse me for sounding so elementary, but why did Jesus come to earth?"
"To bring light?"  (Carlson, p. 140-141)

Darkness and light cannot mix. When light comes in, only light shows and there is no darkness. But when there is no light, there is only darkness. Therefore, we should hang out with sinners, like Jesus did, because when the light is there through us, there can be no darkness.  We should not be afraid to eat with sinners because the light will always conquer the darkness.

References 
Carlson, M. (2002). My Name is Chloe.  Oregon: Multnomah Publishers Inc.