They Were Offended At Him (Mark 6:3)

Jesus' words that a prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house is ever so true.  Regardless of his teaching authority and the ability to perform great miracles, the people could not get over true and accusative facts about Jesus.  The people allowed the natural facts or supposed fact in the statement of Joseph being his father to keep them from receiving Christ.  They allowed those details to offend or trip them up in their life of faith.

Today, we judge them for this and believe in our hearts that if we were there, we would not have reacted the same way.  However, we do much the same.  There are people that God has brought into our lives that we have a difficult time accepting their leadership because we too are tripped up by facts of their lives.  Early in ministry, my pastor told that we should not allow people to see our feet of clay: in other words, don't allow them to see you sin.  We don't have the liberty to have a bad day, lose our temper, shout at people, say unkind words or act in any sinful manner.  The reason being is that people focus on following a man when they should really be focused on following God.  When they see the natural man in their leaders, they get tripped up.  They have difficulty following a position, but instead follow the man or in this case resist following the man.  There is no such thing as a perfect pastor, perfect parent or even a perfect boss.  What we must do is recognize the position that they hold and believe that God will lead you through those who hold that position regardless of their flaws.

Stop and think, God used Balaam who from the account of Scripture was lost.  The high priest prophesied correctly about Jesus even though he was lost and the enemy of Christ.  On a personal level, I remember clearly The Lord speaking to me about a major decision in my life.  He clearly and without question provided the leadership that I needed.  He did this through a visiting pastor, who at the time was living a lie which shortly would be manifested.  However, God knew what I needed and he used those in the office of his leadership to provide help to me.  Later, he dealt with the man living a lie, but I learned something very important and that is to allow God to lead me through the authority figures in my life.

Parents don't have to be perfect in order to provide leadership.  Pastors are God's spokesmen.  He will speak through that office and if they become disqualified, he will remove them, but in the mean time he will still provide leadership to his people through that office.

Ask yourself, have I resisted God's leadership because I have a personal problem with those in authority.  If you have, you have fallen into the same trap as those in Jesus' day.  
Follow the position and don't be offended or tripped up by the person.