The Right Thing, The Wrong Way - Part A

And once they figure out, hey, we're not getting lunch or breakfast, fellas, look at verse 66.

From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. We're done. We're looking for Jesus, but now we're done.

Welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. If you believe the end justifies the means, you're headed for trouble. That kind of thinking could often lead us to be more concerned with results than with how we go about actually getting those results. God lays out specific instructions for us, not because he's a stickler for rules, but because in doing things his way, we'll find true success in whatever endeavor we undertake. Skip Heitzig tells us why it's important to do things the right way, especially when we're doing the right thing.

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That's connectwithskip.com slash offer. You know, it's easy to think that all that really matters is getting results, but God is interested in more than that. He's interested in character as much as he is in results. Open your Bibles to John chapter 6 verse 22 and as you find that spot Skip Heitzig gets us started with a good example of what can happen when you do the right thing the wrong way. Sometimes we can do the right thing, but we do it in the wrong way. Whatever it is we set about to do is good, but the way in which we do it isn't necessarily always the best.

I have several examples. One from my own life, the very first time I baptized a person. I did the right thing. I did it in the wrong way.

I was in my 20s. I had a Bible study in Southern California. There was an elderly woman who gave her life to the Lord. I led her to Christ and I convinced her that she should be baptized in the ocean. There's nothing really wrong with that except you want to choose the right place in the ocean.

I wasn't thinking about that. So I brought her down just to the beach and we got her in the water and I had her, second mistake, facing the shore instead of looking at what's coming. So you're sort of picturing what's coming. Our heads are bowed.

Our eyes are closed. It's such a holy moment. I'm praying with her and this huge wave came in and just she face planted right in the sand in front of me. It wasn't a great deal. It was the right thing but it was the wrong way.

Here's another example. A missionary was leaving the United States to board a plane to go to a foreign country, true story, to do mission work. They got arrested because they failed to have the right documentation. That's what the official said.

They lacked proper documentation. Turns out the missionary was illegally in the United States, an illegal immigrant. Now going out to do mission work is a noble thing but you have to pay attention to immigration laws as a believer.

So that's doing the right thing in the wrong way. Another story you're probably familiar with comes out of the Old Testament when David wanted to move the ark that was in Kiriath Yerim up to Jerusalem and he thought, you know what, forget about having priests holding on their shoulders. Let's just put it on a cart.

We'll expedite this. Well this is automated day and age and we'll quickly move the cart up to Jerusalem. So they're moving it up to Jerusalem and there's a guy who's there watching it and as the ark starts to topple he puts his hand out to steady the ark and because it wasn't done the proper way God struck him dead on the spot and David went oops I just did the right thing in the wrong way. It can happen in any area of life even in ministry because we think we're doing God's work.

We need to expedite it and we can sometimes in the ministry do the right thing in the wrong way. I was given a little piece called the meeting of the board. I'm going to read it to you the meeting of the board it's a sort of a modern day last supper. It's Jesus with his disciples and to modernize it the names have been shortened so instead of Peter it's Pete instead of Bartholomew it's Bart. There's James called Jim, Big Jim and Little Jim. James the greater James the less etc etc.

Let me read it to you. Pete this meeting has been called at the request of Matt, John, Tom and Little Jim. Bart will you open up with prayer? Bart almighty God we ask your blessing on all that we do and say and earnestly pray that you will see our side as your side.

Amen. Pete Jesus we've been following you around for some time and we're getting concerned about the attendance. Tom how many were on the hill yesterday?

Tom 37. Pete this is getting ridiculous. You're going to have to pep things up Jesus. We expect things to happen. John I'd like to suggest you pull off more miracles. That walking on the water bit was the most exciting thing I've ever seen but only a few of us saw it. Now if a thousand or so had the chance to witness it we would have had more than we could handle on the hill. Little Jim I agree those healing miracles are terrific but only a limited number really get to see what happened. Let's have a little more water to wine more fish and chips.

It never hurts to fill their stomachs. Calm more storms Jesus. Give more signs. That's what the people need.

Pete right and another thing publicity is essential. You tell half the people you cure to keep it quiet. Let the word out. Matt I'm for miracles but I want to hear a few more stories I can understand.

This those who have ears to hear let them hear bit just clouds up the issue. You got to make it clear if we're going to have stuff to go home with. Big Jim I'd like to offer an order of service. First a story then a big miracle followed by an offering and then maybe sing or something like a poem followed by a small miracle to bring them back next time.

Oh yeah you can you can pray if you'd like. Tom we got to do something. Jim that's for sure attendance has been awful.

Judas I'd like to say if we're going to continue to meet in this upper room we got to do something about the carpet. Did you know it's possible to follow Jesus the wrong way with the wrong motivation? Now here's the story about a crowd of people. This is a crowd of people who had just witnessed something amazing. They were the very crowd that Jesus fed.

15,000 roughly who were up on a hill outside of the towns of Galilee and Jesus was there with his disciples and took a few loaves of bread and a few fish and blessed it and broke it and fed this great multitude. So they had a free lunch and now we find that they are looking for Jesus after Jesus leaves the area walks on the water. They don't know that and they're looking for Jesus in Capernaum and what we're going to discover in this short paragraph are three things about how people interact with spiritual things especially when it comes to Jesus Christ. I'm going to give you three statements about how people interact with Christ and with spiritual things. Number one searching for God can be hypocritical.

That's the first statement. Searching for God can be, doesn't have to be, but can be hypocritical. Look at verse 22. On the following day, this is the following day after that wonderful miracle, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except the one on which his disciples had entered and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but his disciples had gone away alone. However, other boats came from Tiberius near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. Now if that's all that it said, we'd probably do a whole sermon on what it is to seek Jesus and that's a wonderful statement, but we read on. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Now this sounds wonderful. This is a crowd that is seeking Jesus, but like my first baptism, which was a fiasco, and like that missionary getting on the plane, they are doing the right thing in the wrong way. Yeah, it's really cool that they're looking for Jesus, no question, but why are they doing that? Are they doing it because they really want him and love him and will worship him and will obey him?

Not at all. They are seeking Jesus simply because it's morning and he's not there. In other words, dinner last night was really cool, but what about breakfast? Where's the breakfast? We're hungry.

Now here's the deal. This whole crowd that had been following Jesus and was taken up to this very lonely country environment and were fed, evidently, they spent the night. They spent the night in the area because it was already the evening time. By the time this episode is over, it was the springtime of the year around Galilee.

It's very warm, very pleasant. They just slept overnight. A lot of them did. They got up the next day and Jesus wasn't there.

Now, here's the problem. They distinctly remember what you and I already read, that Jesus had escorted his disciples down to the lake. There was one boat on the shore and Jesus made sure that his disciples left without him. Jesus remained. Therefore, they expected when they got up to see Jesus there. He wasn't there.

So they're trying to figure this out. Well, where did he go? And not only that, how did he travel? See, they weren't even thinking that he may have walked on the water. They thought he didn't go around the lake. It's too long and there's no other boat to take him. Now, it's interesting in this little passage, John the apostle, the writer, seems to make a big deal about the boats, right? He gives all this detail about the boats and there was only one boat and then there's no boats because the disciples left and Jesus isn't there. But then there's all these boats from Tiberius.

What's all that about? Here's probably what happened. The singular boat that took the disciples away was gone. There were no other boats but the storm was so fierce that the fishing boats that dot the Galilee, the lake, at night time, the wind was so severe it blew those boats to that shore. And now there's boats from Tiberius which the next day served as convenient water taxis to take many people in that crowd over to Capernaum because they were seeking Jesus. The point is this group expended so much physical energy seeking Jesus but for the wrong reason. That's why Jesus in verse 26 said to them what he said to them.

And you know what? People today see God for a whole lot of reasons and it's not always because I just love God. I just want to know God.

I just want to worship God. There's a lot of different reasons and this crowd will turn away from him, many of them. Once they figure out that Jesus isn't going to give them a meal, they're out of there because all we have to do is read on. We don't have the time this morning but here's what happens. They come. They're looking for him. They have this conversation. Jesus launches into a sermon.

That's the last thing they wanted. They want a meal, not a sermon. But he gives them a sermon.

He teaches them and some of the things he said are things they didn't quite want to hear. And once they figure out, hey, we're not getting lunch or breakfast, fellas, look at verse 66. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. We're done. We're looking for Jesus but now we're done.

And that's why in verse 26 he says what he says. And did you notice that our Lord didn't even answer their question? There's like, oh, how did you get here?

When did you arrive here? He didn't even answer that. He goes to the core issue and he says, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs. They had seen signs of healing.

They had seen the multiplication of the loaves and the bread. And those signs should have made them go, who is this guy? Maybe this is the Messiah. In fact, maybe this is God.

We need to deal with that. They didn't do it for that reason. He says, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. So Jesus right on the spot exposes their motivation. In other words, you're not moved by a full heart.

You're moved by an empty stomach. They failed to grasp the meaning of the signs that Jesus had performed. James Montgomery Boyce who wrote a commentary on John is very helpful. Here's a portion of what I read this week. He says, I am convinced that in our day in America, Christianity, there is a lamentable tendency to focus on human need rather than on God himself.

That stuck out to me because I would have a tendency to agree. And in our churches today, it's all about the felt need. Let's address the felt need.

That's what people want to hear. And so he says, the focus is on human need, not on God himself. He continues, I am equally convinced that this is the worst possible way to actually have your needs met and to achieve a healthy Christianity. Which leads me to ask, well then what is the best way to have your needs met? If going after God, having an ulterior motive of having my needs met isn't the best way to have my needs met, then what is? Save that thought. We'll get to that in the very next verse. But here's the core issue.

Here's the core issue. Why do we do what we do? Why do we pray?

I hope we do pray. Why do we pray? Why do we read our Bibles? I hope we do read our Bibles.

Why do we do it? Why do we come to church? I remember Billy Graham, after all of his crusades, when he would pray the prayer with people who made decisions to follow Christ, he would always tell them afterwards, and make sure you go to church on Sunday.

Really. Always telling them to go to church. But what about all the people that do go to church on Sunday?

Why are they there? There was an interesting survey done of churchgoers in America. And here's what was unique about this survey. They just didn't look at people going to church. They decided to give a survey and examine four areas of churchgoers' lives besides church attendance.

Probe into their personal lives. And so they discovered, according to this survey, this reveals a varying level of commitment. 19% of Americans, we have found, are religiously committed. 19%. Religiously committed.

That is, they practice what they say they believe regularly in all these areas of their lives. 19%. 22% are modestly religious. It's good. It's important. It's sort of needful. 29% are barely or nominally, in name only, spiritual.

So here's the question I have. As a total package of your life, are you seeking the Lord? Do you ever read your Bible?

Do you ever go to church? As the total package of your life, are you seeking God? And if so, why are you seeking God? Are you seeking God because He's so worthy? Or are you seeking God because you're so hungry?

Now, if it happens to be not A but B, that's okay, actually. I want you to know that if that's honestly the reason you're seeking God, the best thing to do is deal with that and admit that because God is very able to deal with the motivation of one's heart and lift that person up to a higher level. That's His intent, in fact. But if you just stay there, that is, if you're really just using God to get what you want, then here's the second statement that applies. Not only number one is searching for God can be hypocritical, but number two, living for self will be detrimental.

If it's really all about you and yourself and your needs, period, that's a dead-end road. You know, it's great to get good results, but if we sacrifice everything we stand for and believe while attaining those results, what are they really worth? It's something worth considering as we choose to either pursue our own priorities in life or God's priorities for our life.

And that's all the time we have for today. But before we go, here's Skip and Lenya with a closing thought about today's study. Jesus, in the text we've studied today, made bread. He multiplied it, and it seemed that people were following Him, but they were following Him for the wrong reasons. I think they were following for the food line, rather than for the Savior and for intimacy with Him. What are some practical ways we can ensure we're feeding ourselves spiritually instead of just physically? Well, first, I'd say go directly to the source, past the middleman. You know, we have the opportunity with the relationship with God to go directly to Him, have a real prayer relationship and a real feeding relationship from His Word through the Holy Spirit directly to us.

So you can go directly to the source and bypass the middleman. Now, having said that, God has ordained the middleman, pastors, teachers, for the equipping of the saints, Paul writes in Ephesians. So have a direct line, maintain the direct communication, but find a church that is a Bible-teaching church, where also you're not just listening, but you're accountable on a smaller level, building community with other people.

I mean, I just think of our marriage. There's been times where you have shared things with me that the Lord has spoken to you that has changed the course of my life and ministry. And if we just think we're talking to God and listening to God and just going to church and listening without the accountability of other people, other voices feeding into us, we can get sidetracked because we interpret things strangely sometimes. You know, we're told to give us this day our daily bread. Do you think the Lord necessarily meant literal bread?

Yeah, I do. I mean, yes, you can probably spiritualize that, but the idea is depending on Him for our sustenance and trusting Him for our daily sustenance to care for all of our needs. Having said that, sure, a bread is a symbol and a metaphor of spiritual things. Because He said I'm the bread of life.

Sure. So sometimes I feel like I'm going out like the children of Israel to gather my manna. So the importance of your own personal quiet time.

You know, we pray for the daily bread, but sometimes we're the answer to that prayer because we got to get in God's Word, as well as fellowship with other people, like you said, and attending a good church and, you know, having other saints to enjoy the bread together and have communion. And I love to listen to other teachers, other pastors. If I'm in the car, I'll listen to audiobooks. I'll read biographies at home. I'll read other people's books. I think I'm constantly in some kind of a phase of learning from a Bible teacher or a book or something, because I want to hear their view of the Scripture. I want to hear about their own trials or triumphs or marriage. And all of that is a good example to me. I love to be learning. EquaSkip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.