"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority for the Lord's sake. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people," 1 Peter 2:13a, 15 NKJ

Lacking submission to constituted authority is when anarchy reigns. The people will do what is right in their own eyes, thus becoming a law unto themselves. Peter reminds his readers and us that it is part of our Christian testimony to obey those in authority over us. This is one of the ways we "render unto Caesar the things that are his." Not to do so contradicts our Lord's expectations of our behavior and dishonors Him. Unbelievers should not expect more godliness from us than we expect of ourselves. The Bible teaches "therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not to him it is sin." The way to silence one's critics is to "walk the talk."