My wife was picking up our kids from school when a shady-looking youth approached her car. “Can you give me some booze?” he mumbled.

“I most certainly cannot!” she replied, shocked by his brazen request. Then, second guessing herself because of his puzzled look, she asked, “What did you say?”

“I said can you give me a boost? My battery’s dead.”

My wife laughed and our kids groaned all the way home.

Here’s the truth: Sometimes people can’t hear the message for the messenger. It’s a lot easier to hear booze than boost when spoken by a teenager in a high school parking lot. That may not excuse a hasty response, but it does explain it.

The same principle applies to our gospel mandate. Sometimes what appears to be rejection of the message may actually be a reaction to experiences that have colored their perception of Christians and the gospel. An over-zealous witness, an abusive religious figure, or any number of real or perceived offenses can keep them from truly hearing the message.

Believe it or not, many Muslims associate the Christian faith with godless icons of the West like some Hollywood actors. If they have also heard representatives of Christianity blasting Islam and burning their holy book, it should not surprise us that they have a hard time hearing our message.

In the story “The Right Words at the Right Time,” Denise and Mabili modeled one of the best things we can do to enhance our gospel witness: give as much attention to how we approach the hearer as we give to the message we’re sharing. “Let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned with salt,” said the apostle Paul, “so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Colossians 4:6). If we are “full of grace and truth” as Jesus was, we will avoid needless offense.