One summer during my college years, I worked on a construction site. We were expanding a Walmart store near my parents’ home in Texas, and I got to participate in the project pretty much from start to finish. The biggest revelation to me was the relative time and effort required for various parts of the project. Laying the foundation seemed to take forever, while many other tasks happened much faster than I expected. “Demo days,” in particular, were fun but fleeting. The lesson: It’s a lot easier to tear something down than it is to create or fortify something.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill” (3 Nephi 12:17, Matthew 5:17).
When He delivered that sermon after His resurrection at the temple in Bountiful, He elaborated further on that principle:
Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled.
And because I said unto you that old things have passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come.
3 Nephi 15:6-7
Innovators are prone to hubris. They can be so enthusiastic about implementing their new ideas that they may be tempted to trash everything that has been done before. This fallacy is known as “throwing out the baby with the bathwater“—losing or destroying valuable resources as you attempt to make things better.
In 1829, as Joseph Smith worked on the translation of the Book of Mormon, the Lord reiterated that this new scripture was in no way intended to supplant existing scripture:
Behold, I do not bring it to destroy that which they have received, but to build it up.
Doctrine and Covenants 10:52
The Book of Mormon, in other words, ought to enhance and augment our study of the Bible, not to replace or weaken it.
The Lord then said the same about the restoration of His church. Bear in mind as you read this passage that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wouldn’t be established until about a year later:
If this generation harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them.
Now I do not say this to destroy my church, but I say this to build up my church;
Therefore, whosoever belongeth to my church need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Doctrine and Covenants 10:53-55
What’s He saying here? He’s promising to establish His church, even as He reassures the people who already belong to His church that He isn’t doing this to destroy His church but to build it up. Clearly there are two different meanings of “church” in this passage: the specific organization which He is about to establish, and a broader group of people who will be edified by this new organization.
Later in the revelation, He clarifies this broader meaning of the word “church”:
Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.
Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church.
And now, behold, whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
Doctrine and Covenants 10:67-69
What an expansive definition! Everyone who repents and comes to Christ is part of His church. He has also established a formal organization, which is intended to “build up” those people and to help them be more firmly established upon the foundation of His gospel. It’s not intended to destroy or invalidate anything good which they already have.
As President Gordon B. Hinckley used to say, “Bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it” (“The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith,” General Conference, October 2002). The goal is not to destroy. It’s to strengthen, enrich, and fortify.
Today, I will strive to build upon the faith and goodness of the people around me. I will be careful not to disparage or minimize the good things they bring to the table, even if I think I have something better to offer. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I will strive to build up, not to destroy.
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