NOTES for Pe1 2:9

Calling Christians a "royal priesthood" and "a people taken as a possession," the apostle thereby reminds them of the Church's main task, which, as is clear, consists first of all in bearing witness to the reality of the Kingdom that has already entered our world, transforming it. Of course, the "excellence of the One who called you" refers to Christ Himself; otherwise this expression cannot be understood. But witness to Christ, if it is genuine, will inevitably turn out first of all to be witness to the Kingdom He brought into the world. Indeed, as Christians we could not bear witness to the world about anything else. Of course, each of us will certainly have something connected with our own tradition, cultural and religious. But witness to our tradition will no longer be our witness as Christians. It may be our witness as Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, or representatives of some other religion among the many that grew out of Christianity. Yet such witness has no direct relation to Christ and to the Kingdom; at best it can be only our historical and cultural interpretation of Christianity. But Jesus does not offer us any interpretations; He offers us only Himself and the Kingdom He brought into the world. And if we truly are, according to the apostle's word, a "holy people," that is, people who have a relation to this Kingdom, then only Christ and the Kingdom can and must be the meaning of our witness. Otherwise we will very quickly cease to be what the apostle calls us to be.