If you’ve ever had questions about how relevant God’s Word is to your life, you need this book. Michael and Lauren not only understand your hesitations but come alongside you to process your questions while uncovering the ways Scripture can become a personal lifeline. —­LYSA­TERKEURST, #1 New York Times bestselling author; president, Proverbs 31 Ministries Lauren and Michael offer in this accessible work a hopeful vision for millennials and gen Zers who are skeptical of the Bible’s claims. May this book encourage you to read and consider with an open mind the most important book in history. —­RUSSELL­MOORE, president, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention Engaging. Timely. This book invites skeptics and seekers alike to a renewed understanding and embrace of God’s Word. Michael and Lauren are wise and trustworthy guides, encouraging us to find our story within the greatest story of all. —­LOUIE­GIGLIO, pastor, Passion City Church; founder, Passion Conferences Lauren and Michael have been friends with my wife and me for some years. Their willingness to listen and welcome challenging perspec- tives tells me a lot about their character. They value truth over their biases and aren’t afraid of the uncomfortable questions. That is why they are so well equipped to share what they’ve found in this book. —­ANDY­MINEO, hip- hop recording artist Not only millennials but readers from every generation will benefit from this fresh perspective on the Bible. This book creates space for the skeptical or casual Bible reader to address the hard questions head on. We need that now more than ever. —­GABE­LYONS, president, Q Ideas; author, Good Faith Conversational, clear, compelling, convincing— here’s a winsome and insightful invitation to experience the most profound and controversial book of history. Are you willing to read this book by the McAfees with an open mind? If so, great surprises— and rewards— await you. —­LEE­STROBEL, bestselling author, The Case for Christ and The Case for Miracles 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 1 3/27/19 9:23 AM If you are a millennial who has never considered the Bible, drop every- thing and read this book. Michael and Lauren dare you to see things you may have overlooked about the most popular book in history. —­ERIC­METAXAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author; host, nationally syndicated The Eric Metaxas Radio Show Michael and Lauren offer historical, biblical, and practical advice for their generation and future generations to come. You will walk away with a better understanding of the millennial and gen Z generations, and your love for the Bible will deepen in the process. —­ROBBY­AND­KANDI­GALLATY, authors, Here and Now and Disciple Her This book invites the millennial generation to shake off their precon- ceptions about the Bible and explore its pages for themselves. Michael and Lauren provide thoughtful encouragement in this welcome read. —­BOBBY­GRUENEWALD, founder, YouVersion Bible App I encourage you to order a stack of copies of this book and pass them to young people in your life that you care about, as well as reading it for yourself. Together, we can reconnect the next generation with the Word of God. —­MATT­BROWN, evangelist, author, founder of Think Eternity Michael and Lauren are a much needed voice for biblical inerrancy in the millennial generation. They challenge all of us to face our questions about the Bible head on and not to dismiss the Bible before reading it. Any of us who care to see our faith transferred to the next generation must read this book. —­ESTHER­FLEECE­ALLEN, speaker; author, No More Faking Fine The McAfees have articulated an insightful and helpful explanation of how millennials are colliding with the Book of All Books. It will help you, as it helped me, to gain a greater understanding of millennials in your congregation and community. —­DR.­CHRIS­WALL, senior pastor, First Baptist Church of Owasso, Oklahoma 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 2 3/27/19 9:23 AM ZONDERVAN Not What You Think Copyright © 2019 by Michael McAfee and Lauren Green McAfee Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 ISBN 978-0-310-35521-2 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-310-35523-6 (audio) ISBN 978-0-310-35522-9 (ebook) All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.® Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other— except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. The authors are represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920, www .aliveliterary.com. Cover design: Faceout Studio Cover photos: Tamisclao / Shutterstock Interior design: Kait Lamphere Printed in the United States of America 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 /LSC/ 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 6 3/27/19 9:23 AM For Mom <(o)> <3 U — Michael To Mom and Dad, without whom this book could not exist (literally) — Lauren 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 7 3/27/19 9:23 AM CONTENTS Foreword by Tim Keller ............................. 11 A Word to Non- Millennials ........................... 15 Acknowledgments .................................. 17 PART­1:­­ Who­We­Are:­­ The­Shaping­of­Millennials 1. Are We Missing Out? ............................ 21 2. What Is a Millennial? The Five I’s ................. 37 3. Our Problem with Truth ......................... 55 4. What Is the Bible’s Message? ..................... 73 PART­2:­­ Where­We­Are­From:­­ The­Bible­and­History 5. Millennials and History ......................... 89 6. The Bible’s Impact ............................. 105 7. What Makes the Bible Unique? ................... 119 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 9 3/27/19 9:23 AM PART­3:­­ Where­We­Are­Going:­­ The­Millennial­Mind­on­the­Bible 8. Should I Read at All? ........................... 133 9. The Bible Is the Story of Us ..................... 145 10. The Bible and Spirituality ....................... 157 PART­4:­­ How­We­Get­There:­­ The­Starting­Point 11. How to Start .................................. 175 12. The Challenge ................................ 189 Notes. 203 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 10 3/27/19 9:23 AM FOREWORD ou have in your hands a unique book. Y First, it is unique because of who is writing it. There is more skepticism toward the Bible among young people today than there has been in any previous generation in our nation’s history. There are certainly books written by older authors who (usually rather sternly) lecture younger adults regarding the attitude they ought to have toward Scripture. What we have not had is a volume like this one. It is written by two who are millennials themselves and so are immersed in their generation’s experiences and culture, who have wrestled with their own relationship to the Bible, and who have emerged to introduce the Bible to their peers with fresh and hard- won appreciation for it. Second, it is unique because it is several books in one. You can certainly find books on the cultural characteristics of the millennial generation. You can also get good books— and very big and long ones— on how to answer common objections to the trustworthiness of the Bible, on the basic teachings of the Bible, on how to read and interpret the Bible, and on how the Bible can be a foundation for spiritual experience of God. The McAfees have read many of these. They have brought many of 9780310355212_NotWhatYouThink_int_HC.indd 11 3/27/19 9:23 AM Foreword their seminal insights together and expressed them in the most accessible way. And they address the concerns and questions that millennials would have with it all. Finally, Michael and Lauren do not examine the Bible in an academic way but connect it closely to Jesus himself. It is a book about Jesus and it is the book of Jesus. In a class I teach, I ask my Christian students to each interview a friend who does not believe in Christianity. Two of the interview questions are, What to you is the most attrac- tive thing about Christianity? and, What to you is the least attractive or most objectionable thing about Christianity? As might be guessed, the most problematic issue is the behavior of the church in various times and places in history. The most attractive thing to the interviewees, however, is Jesus, his character and teaching. As the McAfees observe, millennials are turned off to the Bible because they are turned off by the church. The remedy for that is not, of course, to make any excuses for the church. Rather, millennials will be helped the most in their attitude toward the Bible if they see the strength of the connection between the Bible and Jesus. If you read the accounts of Jesus’ life in the Gospels, you will see that almost ten percent of his statements are quotes from Scripture.