A surprising aspect of Christianity down through the ages has been the frequency with which believers have turned aside and started believing something different from what Jesus taught. The problem already existed in New Testament times, as demonstrated in chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from the one who called you in the grace of Christ, towards a different ‘good news’. There is no other “good news”, but some people are stirring you up, and want to distort the Good News of Christ.”
Genesis chapter 1 says that humans were made in the image of God, but perhaps the problem arises because humans continually seek to redefine God in the image of humans. If God really is all-powerful, then our role as humans is to seek to find out what his plans for the world are, and fit in with them as best we can. It is ridiculous to think that we can exert control over God, but that is what we try to do, resulting in the distortion of the true message of Jesus.
Any number of distortions of the message have arisen over the years. Some have taught that Jesus was not fully human or not fully divine. Some have sought power for themselves, setting themselves up as false messiahs. The message of poverty and humility has been distorted into a message of wealth and power. The message of peace and forgiveness has been distorted into a message of war and revenge. New distortions arise whenever we try to assert control over God.