Apparently, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Mike Jeffries, is reacting to all the negative press about his remarks to exclude uncool teens and unattractive people from his clothing line. Even late night television picked up the bullying behavior and did a spoof on Jeffries remarks. His comments sounded like a grown up bully–you can’t be part of our club because you are not cool enough. This, from a 60 something man!

Now the CEO bully is offering an anti-bully college scholarship to a high schooler who has maintained high achievement in  the face of being bullied. I wonder if the winner will also qualify to wear Abercrombie’s clothing as well.

Call me skeptical, but it feels like a reactionary move to critics rather than a genuine commitment to change. Jeffries has admitted that he is exclusionary when it comes to his clothing. He has been highly focused on image, touting thin and beautiful as the way to be in and current.

But maybe the public outcry gave him pause, at least from a business perspective.

This story is about what is in the heart. Matthew 12:34 tells us that out of the heart, the mouth speaks. What Jeffries originally said was what was in his heart. Only when there was a public outcry did he try to undo his words.

So is that a bad thing?

NO. Public outcry can cause us to reexamine our hearts. King David did this when he was “caught” by the prophet Nathan. He was in sin, caught, but repented and turned from his sinful way.

We all hold unkind things in our hearts that aren’t always exposed. But when we speak and the heart is revealed, it can be a window into our inner thoughts. If we truly see our sin (pride, bullying, thinking more highly of ourselves than others, etc)  and repent of it, asking God to forgive us, we can grow and behave in better ways. God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we confess them.

We can’t judge the heart of Mike Jeffries. We don’t know if he was driven to provide this scholarship in order to clean up his image and regain lost market share. Or maybe, and we can always hope this, the public outcry caused him to re-examine his own heart and make a change. Only God and the people who know him best, know what is really in his heart.

The positive side of this publicity stunt or true change is that one teen will benefit from bullying behavior!

The spiritual lesson is that even if you are caught doing something wrong, you can repent and make changes. That gives hope to all of us.

True change can be measured by consistent action in a positive direction.

Let’s see how Jeffries does.  Behavior follows repentance.