Titus 3:9 To Avoid

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Here Titus is given a list of things he must avoid with a reason for doing so. The four things in the list are foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law. Not all controversies are foolish but many are. An example might be a controversy over what to wear to church. it is not that we have no guidelines on the subject but this is such a minor matter and not one that we have any detailed guidance on. Many Jews at the time were very interested in genealogies - genealogies in the Bible and drawing strange doctrines from them or their own family trees. This is typical of the modern obscurantist who tries to base big assumptions on poor evidence. Arguments and quarrels about the law again suggest a Jewish background but it is not only Jews who can argue about the law - what it is and how it applies. Again, for a pastor to waste time on this sort of thing would be wrong and foolish. All such arguments are unprofitable and useless. Even if you win the argument how does it serve to actually take forward the kingdom of God?