Evangelism in the early church established two key examples to which the body of Christ

continue in even till this day, "what to do ", and "what not to do". From the very beginning we
find that evangelism was somewhat limited due to prejudice. Traditionally the Jews looked down
on the Samartians as biological religious half- breeds. The prejudice was so intense to the
point that Jews would not even pass through Samaria but bypassed setting foot in their territory,
even though it was the most direct route from Judea to Galilee. In those days it was not custom
for a religious man to even talk with a sinful woman.
Yet we find that Jesus Jesus would cross many barriers to bring the Gospel message. Jesus would
even step out of His comfort zone and take the initiative to start conversation with people. Jesus
was not at all concerned about the race or gender of an individual, he was the more concerned
about evangelizing to those in need. He crossed prejudicial barriers, turned average conversation
to spiritual matters,listened to the individual, refused to be sidetracked, pointed out sin, refused
to let people off the hook, called for the person to submit their life to worship the Father, and
finally introduced Himself to the individual.
Meanwhile, the disciples on the other hand, initially started out a little rocky to say the least.
They also were influenced with the prejudices of the day. They too were very uncomfortable in
when Jesus took the time out in Samaria to evangelize to a Samartian woman. They failed to see
that the time was right for evangelism in Samaria. They were more concerned about getting their
food and getting out of town. Spiritual harvest was at hand yet they could not see it do to their
prejudice ways.
It is sad but true, we find that 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning is still the most segerated hour in this
country. We still have the "black church" , and the "white church", and in the middle we find the
gray area in which we leave evangelism to opperate. Prejudice is still an active member in our
churches. Whether it is race, gender, or etc., we can not expect to meet the needs of the masses if
we can't meet together for a few hours to worship a common Master. In order for true evangelism
to be successful we must be will to neglect this mindset.