Sometimes the mark of the beast is institutionalized. Consider the marginalization or outright persecution of believers who, out of allegiance to Christ, refuse to "Heil, Hitler" in Nazi Germany, don't attend Community Party meetings in Soviet Russia, skip the temple rites in the Roman era, or will not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's statue. These beast-centric pressures recur throughout history, and Christians should not be surprised to have to stand for a different mark of ownership than those around them.
Other times, the mark is more a matter of different moral standards and values that set us apart. Believers will look odd to the world as we have family-level love for each other, care for the poor, practice sexual purity, honor God's name, and otherwise keep the commandments. In contrast, Peter's list of the world's values and corresponding activities fits our day well: "Sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry" (1 Peter 4:3).
In my younger days, I was a rising professional in a workplace where social custom dictated going out to the bars together after work. There was a fair amount of ungodly behavior associated with this, and I seldom joined. It may have cost me promotions, and certainly cost me social credibility. And that was in a relatively free country and diverse culture, involving an activity that was not inherently sinful (I could have gone to the bars and behaved in a godly manner there). In many places, those differences are much more stark and the worldly consequences are more severe. My moral differences were merely viewed as unfriendly, but in other places the beast's minions might consider then subversive. And indeed, Christian living is subversive to the beast's agenda.
