Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
After reminding Titus about grace and the hope of eternal life, Paul now gives a very practical warning.
There are conversations that simply are not worth entering.
“Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies.”
In Paul’s day people loved to chase endless speculations about family lines, spiritual ancestry, and complicated religious theories. Long debates would spin out from those topics, but very little spiritual growth came from them.
Paul’s counsel is simple.
Avoid them.
Not because questions are bad, but because some discussions pull people away from what really matters.
Think about it. A person can spend hours arguing about technical details of religion and never move one inch closer to knowing Christ.
Paul continues.
“…and contentions, and strivings about the law.”
There have always been people who want to argue about regulations. Diet rules. Calendar observances. Ritual practices. Endless technical debates that go round and round without producing anything healthy.
Paul calls them what they are.
“Unprofitable and vain.”
They generate heat but not light.
The danger is that a believer can get pulled into those debates and slowly lose sight of the center of the faith.
Don’t miss this.
The gospel was never meant to become a maze of arguments.
It was meant to lead people to Jesus.
Imagine a traveler who stops at every roadside argument along the way. People are debating maps, directions, and theories about the road. Hours pass. Voices grow louder. But no one is actually moving forward.
Meanwhile the road itself is still there.
Waiting.
The goal of the journey was never the argument. The goal was the destination.
The same thing happens spiritually.
If we get caught in every controversy, every theory, every debate, we lose momentum. The focus shifts away from Christ and onto side issues that lead nowhere.
Paul’s wisdom is steady and clear.
Avoid the distractions.
Stay on the road.
Keep the main thing the main thing.
And the main thing has always been the same.
Jesus Christ.