Antigones (In Avos 1:3) teaches that we shouldn't be like slaves who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward, rather we should be like servants who serve their master without such a condition.

Rambam begins by interpreting this Mishna as coming to teach us what it means to serve Hashem out of love, but then goes on to explain what can happen if this teaching is taken out of context.

Rambam tells the story of two disciples, Tzadok and Baitus, who heard this teaching and put forth their own warped interpretation. They understood that the Mishna is teaching us that if the ideal Avodat Hashem is not for the sake of reward, then it must be that there is no system of Sechar V'Onesh (a system of reward and punishment).

Tzadok and Baitus went on to form two seceding factions called the Tzedukim and Baitusim. They would have gladly rejected the entire Torah (chas v'sholom), but that wouldn'y fly. Instead, they  were able to promulgate the rejection of our Mesorah,  the oral law.

In truth Baitus and Tzadok were simply looking for an excuse to drop Torah and Mitzvot. They began with a dishonest starting point which justified their (mis)interpretation of the Mishna.  It began with a single Mishna and spread to the entire Torah. This wasn't a matter of intellectualism of ideals, rather this was a matter of rationalizing an escape from responsibility.

The Gemara in Makot - which the Yeshiva as a whole was recently completed - teaches us that HaKadosh Baruch Hu leads people down the path that they seek to follow. This is based on Bil'am, who we will read about next week. He opens up doors to lead everyone in the direction that they want to go. Tzadok and Baitus were trying to find an excuse - and that door was opened for them.

Perhaps we can suggest that this dishonest projection lead to the downfall of the Meraglim as well. What happened with the Meraglim? How was it possible that Kalev and Yehoshua saw one thing and the rest of the Meraglim walked away with a completely different impression? The answer is that their report was influenced by their perspective. They were looking at the land with a slant that lead to their downfall. 

The Zohar, as explained by Rav Goldvicht, ZT"L writes that the Nesi'im/Meraglim didn't want to lose their positions as leaders of Am Yisrael. Every generation is given the leaders that it needs. The generation of the desert was completely spiritual, constant Torah and Ruchaniut. Going into Eretz Yisrael would mean that the role of the people - and automatically their leaders - would change. Their fears of entering Eretz Yisrael which were completely personal, were projected on to the Land itself - intellectually justifying something that was simply not true.  

Our role, as taught in the Parsha of Ztitzit, is to follow the right path, without the subjective (mis)interpretations that our heart and eyes are wont to lead us astray.