- Today, young people aremore skeptical about the Bible

than any previous generationin our nation's history.

Only 30% of millennials believe the Bible

is the inspired and inerrant Word of God,

and only 9% read it daily.

Well that promptedMichael and Lauren McAfee

to issue a challenge totheir fellow millennials:

read the Bible and let it standor fall on its own merits.

Take a look.

(uplifting piano music)

- [Narrator] Lauren McAfee isthe daughter of Steve Green,

founder of Museum of theBible in Washington, DC,

and president of Hobby Lobby.

Together, she and her husband Michael

are passionate about the Bible.

But as millennials, they understand

why so many of their peers feelthe Bible no longer applies

to the modern-day life.

In their book, Not What You Think,

Michael and Lauren take a closer look

at the most controversial book in history,

and explore its role in thefuture for this generation.

- Please welcome to the 700Club Lauren and Michael McAfee,

it's great to have the two of your here.

- Thanks for havin' us.- Thanks.

- Michael, the title of yourbook is Not What You Think.

What do most millennialsthink about the Bible?

- Yeah, the majority would view the Bible,

we talk about in the book,in a few different ways.

Some view it as a rule book,and so it's just a book

of morality, that's the majority view

of people that aren't reading the Bible.

Some view it as justa book of inspiration,

and so you can sort oftake the parts you want,

and leave the parts you don't like.

And some view it as littlemore than a fairy tale,

it's just a book of literature.

- So you have found thatthis is generic feeling

amongst millennials, that they fall

into one of these categories,

and the one you say is thegreatest is simply a rule book.

In our moral culturetoday, not real popular

to have a rule book, I guess, for people.

So how do you present adifferent message, Lauren?

- So in the book, we try andhighlight the meta-narrative

of the Bible, the overarching story.

I can feel that there arejust many segmented stories

in the Bible, and not easyto have a big understanding

of what is this all about.

So we try and highlight the significance

of the broad story, andeverything points to Jesus.

And that whenever we viewthe Bible in the lens

of looking at everythingpointing to Jesus,

both from the Old Testamentand then the New Testament,

that brings to life whatthe Bible is really about,

which is about a relationship with God.

- You were both raised instrong Christian families,

but I know there wasa time for both of you

where you wondered what thebook meant to each of you.

How did you come to a place of determining

that it was the Word of God,and that it was all about Jesus

as you say, and that youneeded to pay attention to it?

- Yeah, we needed to ask questions,

and so we both chose to put ourselves

in a secular university context,

because we wanted to putourselves in the fire.

And so as we did, it refined our faith,

it caused us to lean bothon our pastors and parents,

and people that we love, toask those hard questions,

and thankfully, they were willing

to allow us to ask those hard questions,

and to walk with us on the journey.

And so Not What You Think was our attempt

to help others along that same journey,

to ask the hard questions we need to ask

to own our faith for ourselves.

- So was that how it went for both of you?

- It was, so we both wentto the same university,

and got the same degree, andso we had this experience

at the same school, kind ofwrestling in the same season

of coming to terms with our own faith

and the questions that ourprofessors were posing to us.

We write about some ofthe specific lectures

that really were discrediting the Bible,

and us having to wrestle through that

and come to terms with,okay, what does this mean

about the Bible, and what dowe believe about the Bible?

- There was a time in ourcountry where it was accepted

that the Bible was theinerrant Word of God,

almost every family had onesomewhere in their bookshelf,

but over time, we've almost,because we have such...

Availability of the Scriptures,

we take it so for granted, even...

Not considering it at all.

The Bible Museum is an amazing place.

I had the opportunity tovisit last fall, and I was...

I walked away just withmy jaw dropping down.

What your family has accumulated

and put together there is astonishing.

What impact do you wantthat to have on the country?

Because it's a legacy,it's a treasure, really.

- Yeah, we hope that both through the book

and through the museum that what happens

is that people are encouragedto engage in the Bible.

That's what we really hope,

is that as millennials read this book,

or as individuals walk through the museum,

they walk away readingthe Bible for themselves

and engaging with whatGod is teaching them

through the Scripture.

- It's important for us all to do that,

but millennials, it'sespecially important for, why?

- Well we have a lot ofoptimism for our generation,

so there are a lot of--

- [Terry] I like that, Michael. (laughs)

- There's a lot ofcriticism for millennials,

and we're making the samemistakes young adults have made

for centuries, we're just doing it louder

because of social media.

But there's a lot ofcompassion and care for people,

and so part of what we wantedto do with Not What You Think

is say, hey, you care for the poor,

you care for the outcast,you have this passion

for social justice, all ofthese themes are in the Bible,

and so you might be surprised to find

that the Bible is not what you expected,

but everything you need.

- Actually, many of thosethemes came from the Bible.

- Exactly.

- Over generations, it'snot just included in there.

- Yeah.- Right.

- It was the catalyst for a lot of that.

What suggestions do you have for people

who are gonna take you up on this,

and go to the Word, and explore?

Because I think that youcan be, as you said earlier,

off-track if you just come in

and don't understandthe overarching story,

so how do you suggest people do this?

- So we recommend a few things.

We recommend praying, being prayerful

as you go to the Bible.

Recognizing the significance of this book,

it's been around for thousands of years,

and it's still speaking today,

and so this is an incrediblebook to engage with.

So be prayerful, and then we think

that it's really helpful tostart in the New Testament,

but also to see the significance

of all of the Old Testament,

everything as it points to Jesus.

And then be open-minded, just to consider,

what does this bookhave to say to me today?

- Well speaking of thisbook, the subtitle is,

Why the Bible Might Be Nothing We Expected

Yet Everything We Need.

What do you think people expect

when they go to the Word ifthey haven't really been in it?

- Yeah, well again, themajority view of people

that aren't reading the Bibleis that it's this rule book,

and so there's a fear of,well, if I read this book,

it's gonna make me feel bad about myself

or someone else that I love.

But when you find the peoplethat are reading the Bible,

they view it as a way ofgrowing closer to God,

and so it does give you rules,

and then shows that weactually all broke the rules,

and the one man who kept them, Jesus,

died in our place, onthe cross, for our sin,

and rose to give us new life.

And so it gives us anew hope that we have,

and so then we do obey the rules,

but not as a way of earning God's love,

but because we love Him.

- You know, I grew up ina denomination that...

Was Christian, but didn'tencourage reading the Bible,

and I think I was like 20 or21 before I ever read the Word,

and in fact it was theWord that caught my heart

and opened my mind and my eyes.

There's power in reading this,

it's not just another book.

What are the greatestmisconceptions, other than rules?

Because I think one of things,

you talked about mercy and justice,

people struggle withthat in the world today.

- Yeah, we talk in the bookabout some of the common things

that can be barriers for our generation,

approaching the Bible thinkingthat it's just judgmental

because it's this book of rules,

or that it's oppressive tocertain groups of people,

and so we try and wrestle with that

through those with them, andshow them actually the Bible

is a book about loving God,who is engaging with us

as people, and hopefully takedown some of those barriers

that our generation has.

- Well I wanna say the bookis called Not What You Think.

By the way, it makes agreat graduation gift

this time of year, it's availablewherever books are sold,

and I also wanna say,if you haven't gotten

to Washington, DC, tosee the Bible Museum,

put it on your agenda, it isso worth your time and effort,

and actually would be great to read this,

and then go visit there. (laughs)

- Yeah, we'd love that.

- Thank you both, it'sgreat to have you here.

- Thanks for having us.- Thanks.

- And thanks to yourfamily for this great place

that they've given the country.