Submit to every ordinance

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men - 1 Peter 2v13-15

I don’t understand this whole idea of Christians who do not submit to the governing authorities. Submission is a key mark of humility and humility is, of course, a key character trait for God’s people. Submission begins at a young age and continues on through adulthood. If we cannot submit to human authorities that we can see can we really hope to submit to God who we cannot see?

The reason for submission here is different. Here we are called on to submit so that we can put to silence the criticisms of foolish men who will attack us for our difference from the rest of the world. We can’t afford to give those foolish men fuel for the fire. There may come a time when we have to decide to obey God when the governing authorities are in direct violation of God’s word. Outside of that our best method for silencing our critics is to lead a good and peaceable life where we live so that they have no room for their foolish attacks.