I find the belief in own special status having a pagan character too. Many primitive tribe believe in their special status and have their own tribal gods.
But, given my belief in Christ--the Messiah who rode an ass--the Jews were the Chosen Ones.
(And I believe I can make a compelling case for their having held exactly that "special status" among the rest.)
It's just that the continued operation of "Chosen Ones" absent the incarnation of Jesus -- the Jew -- as Christ leaves them forever distanced somehow from the rest of the family of man (and susceptible to being used in a most calculated fashion, IMHO).
I cannot be a Christian without acknowledging the essential truth of the Jewish tradition and the absolute truth of their having been the Chosen People.
That said -- and though it's not for me to force my beliefs on another or fail to respect a man who loves and is obedient to the truth he knows (rather than culling and governing it as necessary for his own "personal values") -- it's almost painful there is no genuine avenue for, much less interest in, proselytization.
There is no way for me to become a Jew. At the essential heart of the matter, then, there is no way for me ever truly to be equal in the eyes of God.
How can that be true?