I am a total certified card carrying wimp. No really. I often think I have it hard as a Christian. Man, am I am ever a wimp.

As you may know, in the West the questions we ask unbelievers that are thinking about becoming Christians go something like this, “Are you ready to give your life to God and experience His peace and blessings?”

Well I realize I am now a wimp because recently I read about a set of questions (Raising the Bar by Drew Dyck) that are asked potential Christian converts to determine their readiness to become believers in parts of Asia. The questions come from a Christian missions agency in South Asia called Asian Access. Here are the questions they ask:

Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father?

Are you willing to lose your job?

Are you willing to go to the village and those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them?

Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord?

Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?

Are you willing to go to prison?

Are you willing to die for Jesus?

In the part of the world where Asian Access ministers these questions are necessary before you are a Christian because of the amount of persecution that occurs. This not only makes me grateful for where I live but it also makes me feel like a wimp when I complain about a ‘bad day’. This kind of lifestyle in Asia is literally taking ‘up your cross and dying daily’.

I wonder how I would have responded many years ago when I became a Christian if I was asked the above questions before I was allowed to pray the prayer of salvation? How would this change salvations in the West if we asked them of new converts today?

Please, please, tell me to stop sniveling the next time I complain.

Your thoughts?