Speaking tongues or nonsense? Rebutting bad TikTok theology

Speaking in tongues is a spiritual act and a gift that is imparted upon believers by the Holy Spirit — and videos of believers speaking in tongues are making the rounds on TikTok.

However, after seeing one video of a young woman recording herself praying in tongues, Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” isn’t convinced that sharing this gift publicly, and online, is the biblical move.

“I think how this is being done on social media is not biblical at all and is actually very dangerous spiritually for those that are viewing it,” Stuckey explains. “This is just not powered by the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is always going to be in agreement with God’s word.”

“Father, Son, Holy Spirit. All equal persons in the Trinity. They never contradict each other, they never disagree, the entirety of the Bible is God’s infallible, inherent word,” she continues, noting that public prayer for the sake of attention on social media does contradict God’s word.

Not only does Stuckey believe it’s not biblical, but she isn’t sure she buys it as real.

“My own personal observation is that that doesn’t actually sound like a language. That sounds like gibberish said in a rhythmic manner,” Stuckey says. “While I don’t know the intentions of her heart, it does seem to me that this is a performance that is posted on Instagram in order to maybe get likes, or maybe it is for attention, maybe it’s not for those things.”

“Maybe she believes that she is actually showing other people how to pray, or encouraging other people, and yet what she is doing just doesn’t correspond with the biblical directives that we are given,” she continues.

“We should all be able to watch a video like this and agree that filming yourself and posting it for the world to see doesn’t match what Jesus says in Matthew 6:5-6,” she adds.

Matthew 6:5-6 reads: “When you pray you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

“It seems to me that the point, if we look at the context of what Jesus is saying, and to whom he’s speaking,” Stuckey says, “his point is that prayer should not be a performance for others. It isn’t something that we do to prove ourselves, to prove ourselves holy, or to get likes, or to get affirmation.”

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