I will not accept a microchip in my hand.
But let's back up a bit and look at this from another angle. We know that the beast will eventually declare himself to be God. Most Christians will say, "so what? Who cares what a crazy man says about himself. We know who the real God is." Right? If the question is put to us we will simply laugh out loud and say, "no" with a giggle.
Okay, let's take another step back and ask the question a different way. Who or what is the source of life? Jesus tells the crowds, "man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." In other words, God is the ultimate source of life. Bread is obviously keeping us alive, but ultimately God is the source of the bread we eat. Without rain, sun, earth, and seed, and etc. we wouldn't be able to make the bread that is keeping us alive. Every good thing comes from God.
Today, in our world, most of us don't make our own bread. Instead, we are accountants, business people, school teachers, firemen, etc. trading labor and expertise for bread. (Even so, ultimately God is the source of bread since he is responsible for supplying us with parents and educators, giving us the knowledge and skill to live in this world.) Accordingly, we use money as a means of exchange, easing the transaction between those who work and those who sell bread.
What is the mark of the beast? A new form of monetary exchange, which is solely under the control of the beast. As it says, "that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark." Why would the beast do this? Why would he develop a system of monetary exchange that he alone controls? What better way to declare himself to be "God", the source of bread? Suppose the beast decides, for whatever reason, to stop me from buying and selling? Who is "God" then? He will suggest that "God" is the one who decides whether I live in a comfortable apartment with all the food I can eat. The true "God" is the one that can cut off my money supply, forcing me to live in a cave eating rodents.
The beast isn't simply going to declare himself to be God; he is going to take control of the economic system such that his declaration greatly and seriously impinges on my life. (Remember "Who loves' ya baby?") To take the mark of the beast is to acknowledge that the beast is the source of bread. Who said, "you didn't build that business"?
I think some of us would rather starve than confess that the beast is the source of bread.