CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN: I DIDN’T HAVE A FAITH PROBLEM

🧭 CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN: I DIDN’T HAVE A FAITH PROBLEM—HE KNEW THAT TOO
Posted on The True Remnant Blog

Clayton Christensen - Harvard
He stood at the top of Harvard—and bowed before the Savior.

🤝 A Word Before We Begin

This one’s personal.

Clayton Christensen was a dear friend.
Not just a genius. Not just a scholar. Not just a Church name.

He was a disciple.
A man who truly walked with Christ.
A man who lived close to the Spirit—every hour of every day.
He was one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever known.
But even more than that… he was kind. Gentle. Humble. Pure.

And that’s what I remember most.

🧠 The Church Knew Who to Call

A few years ago, when the Church was finally ready to admit that people were leaving in droves…

They didn’t go to a PR firm.
They didn’t go to a general authority.

They went to Clayton. The business mind of Harvard.

He’s the one who conducted the survey—the one you’ll never see in a conference talk.
He sat with hearts and stories. He listened. He gathered data.
He told the Brethren the truth about why people were leaving.

And it wasn’t because they had a “faith crisis.”
It was because they saw things that didn’t line up—and they had the courage to say so.

He knew what I’ve said in my own words:

“I don’t have a faith problem. I have a Church problem.”

And the beautiful thing is—he agreed.

Clayton never lost his faith in Christ.
He built his whole life on it.
But he understood that the system had cracks—and love demanded honesty.

🕊 The Center of It All

More than Harvard.
More than innovation.
More than leadership books and keynotes and accolades…

Christ was the center of everything Clayton did.

He prayed with fire.
He taught with reverence.
He saw every business deal, every student, every decision through the lens of eternity.

He told me once—and told many others—

“If you want to be a true disciple of Christ, you have to decide now. Don’t wait until it’s hard. You’ll already know what to do.”

He lived that.

He didn’t just serve the Church—he served the Savior.

🔄 How He Stood Apart

Clayton didn’t speak like a modern LDS leader.
He didn’t sell programs.
He didn’t boast about buildings.
He didn’t try to climb a ladder to heaven.

Instead, he spoke of:

Character over image
Integrity over convenience
Principles over power
People over policy

He didn’t “manage the Church.”
He cared for souls.

He was like Nibley in that way—deep thinker, temple-hearted.
He was like Truman—Christ-focused, personal, persuasive.
But most of all, he was like Jesus—meek, lowly of heart, and full of quiet strength.

🧩 The Faith Crisis Report

You’ll never see his name stamped on it.
It wasn’t shouted from pulpits.
But it was Clayton who gave the Church one of its most honest mirrors.

He showed them what people were struggling with:

Polygamy history
Brigham vs. Joseph
Money and materialism
Priesthood exclusion
Prophetic inconsistency

He didn’t attack.

He explained.

And from what I saw—he did it with grace, love, and full allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.

📚 The Real Measure

Clayton once said:

“When I have my final interview with God, He won’t ask me about my GPA or my stock portfolio. He’ll ask me how I treated people.”

That’s the Clayton I knew.

Not the bestselling author.
Not the genius of Harvard.
But the humble man who knew the Lord—and wanted to become like Him.

He once said:

“Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it—all the time.”

He stood for Jesus.

📖 How Did Clayton Line Up with the Nemenhah?

Now you might wonder…
“How does Clayton stack up with the Nemenhah?”
From what I’ve seen and felt—he’d fit right in.
He honored women.
He lived simply.
He put the Savior at the center of everything.
He cared more about people than positions.
That’s the spirit of the Nemenhah.
He didn’t reject the Church.
But he didn’t worship it either.
He walked humbly inside the system—with a heart full of light.
He may not have known the Nemenhah Records...
But the way he lived?
It already echoed their ways.

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🙏 Final Thoughts

This post isn’t just a thank-you to a friend.

It’s a witness.

That God places brilliant minds in high places…
Not to prop up institutions,
But to call them back to Christ.

That’s what Clayton did.

He did it with spreadsheets.
He did it with stories.
He did it with sacrament bread and Sunday school chairs.
He did it with eyes full of tears, sometimes.

He walked with the Savior.
And helped others walk too.

May we honor him…

By living like he did.

🕊🔥👂
Be centered in Christ. Be true. Be whole.
—The True Remnant

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👉 Want to go deeper? Read my post that ties directly to the survey Clayton helped lead for the Church:

Clayton was the one who quietly gathered those stories.
He listened. He told the truth.
This post connects the dots.

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