Jacobsen identifies four different religious regions of Asia: Islamic West Asia, Hindu South Asia, Religiously Mixed Southeast Asia, and Buddhist/Secular East Asia. Christians make up about 4% of the population in both West and South Asia, but they live vastly different experiences in these places. The Christians in West Asia are generally poor, immigrants, and looked down upon. Conversely, South Asian Christians live either in tight-knit communities and hold a much higher status in general society, or they are a part of the castless population at the bottom of the totem pole. Southeast Asian Christians are generally a part of minority groups, so much that is now common for members of secular minorities to convert to Christianity to better align with their marginalized identities. East Asia has the fastest growing Christian population throughout Asia, but different states react differently to Christian identities there. Most notably, South Korea has a huge, respected Christian population, while North Korea persecutes their Christian population.

The “triple dialogue” of Asian Christianity refers to the joining of nationalism, religious tolerance, and care for the poor. Throughout the entire Asian continent a strong sense of national pride is assumed amongst citizens. This ties into the strong sense of community and group identity that exists in a lot of cultures outside of the west. This expected nationalism makes way for what is often a much more tolerant Christianity than that of the west. When it is assumed that everyone strives for the greater good of their neighbors and their country, the various religions of those neighbors tend to seem less important. The survival of such a wide variety of cultures and religions throughout Asia is testament to the power of religious tolerance. In a continent with such high population levels and close-knit communities it makes sense that Asian Christians would take on the duty of helping the poor even more readily than many western Christians.

The most obvious lesson to take away from Asian Christianity is the theme of religious tolerance. Throughout the entire west Christians are uncomfortable and even violent in their reaction to interfaith discussion and interaction. This is a huge barrier to progress that we must work to move past, and many parts of Asia set an example that we could stand to learn from. Aside from this I find that Asian Christianity seems also to be more dedicated to implementing the ideals of Christ, which is something that many western Christian sects have wrongly moved away from. For Christianity to be relevant I believe it’s population needs to practice what it preaches.