Jesus said 'Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect'. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness'. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. We are not merely to be 'holy people' but 'holy priests'. We move in this expression from what we are to what we do.
Christian priesthood is a function of the community as a whole.
Nowhere in the New Testament is an individual Christian described as a 'priest', and nowhere is the term 'priesthood' applied to a special group or class within the church. The whole community of faith is the 'priest' - this idea is basic to the New Testament understanding of the church. Unfortunately, the church has developed this idea through the centuries, calling this doctrine 'the priesthood of all believers', and in the process we've lost the original meaning. In other denominations, the idea was lost altogether in the development of a special professional group in the church who were called 'priests'. Thank you, Lord of the Church, that I am part of a royal, holy priesthood.