This election season has been a staggering disappointment … on so many levels.

Several surveys have confirmed that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are among the most unpopular candidates to ever run for president.  That perception has darkened the mood of the nation and left many people feeling anxious, if not a bit noxious.

In this election, both candidates represent change we don’t want and characters we can’t trust.  This is yet another year in which we’re voting against the other candidate, not for one.

On Sunday, Oct. 9, near the end of the second presidential debate, Hillary Clinton said, “this is not an ordinary time and this is not an ordinary election.”  She’s right, about one thing: For the first time in American history, a woman has been nominated by one of the country’s two major parties to run for president.  That’s impressive, and that’s it.

In all other respects, this election is desperately ordinary.

As the world teeters on the edge of chaos, the stakes are frightfully high.  Filling vacancies on the Supreme Court is a priority, and the two major parties have opposing agendas on virtually everything: national defense, homeland security, the economy, healthcare, taxes, schools, the role of government, etc.

And, … both Clinton and Trump profess to be Christians.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but that means they believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior and strive to live according to the teachings recorded in the Holy Bible.

We don’t know their hearts, so we’re left with their fruit, that is, evaluating to what degree their words and actions align with Scripture. Clinton has a lifetime association with the Methodist church, whereas Trump is “a baby Christian,” but neither Trump’s behavior and beliefs nor Clinton’s political positions and policies demonstrate that “Christian” is anything but a necessary label to garner votes from a portion of the electorate.  In other words, both candidates fail the fruit test miserably.

Some Trump supporters claim he can be used by God because “God can use anybody,” but ironically, that claim does not apply to Clinton (whom God apparently cannot use).  I have yet to meet such a person….

Of course, politicians do not have to be Christians to hold moral or biblically correct positions (that was the case with Mitt Romney, for example, and is true for avowed atheists as well).  But unfortunately voting for positions alone doesn’t resolve the broader issue of whether a candidate’s faith is genuine, and tends to downgrade the importance of other factors, such as character and integrity in our decision making.

The historical correctness of presidents who professed to be Christians (of one denomination or another) is nearly unanimous, and has created an expectation for many believers that the candidates they vote for must be professed Christians.  A profession of faith, however, does not equate to devotion.

Christians have a tendency to misappropriate the definitive and absolute nature of Scripture and apply it wholesale in the political arena.  In practice, that approach produces one candidate or political party … that is the correct choice … for all believers … period.  That is a seductive lie that thoughtful believers should flatly reject, if for no other reason than to eschew the divisiveness that such a belief creates.

The dilemma Christians face is less about adherence to biblical mandates than it is about the inadequacy of politics as an expression of faith.

Convincing ourselves – as we are prone to during election season – that political choices are the gold standard for godliness is nothing short of disastrous, not only to our unity with fellow believers (Ephesians 4:1-6), but also to our efforts to represent Christ despite worldly distractions (Matthew 16:23).

By viewing the world through a political lens, we greatly exaggerate the potential outcomes of voting and minimize the inconsistencies between political positions and Scripture.  The consequences are the lost credibility of our witness and a reluctance to extend compassion and mercy to our political opponents, much less to the “takers” in society (or who Jesus referred to as the least of these).

Even as believers, most of us prefer to fight earthly battles with tangible results than spiritual battles with eternal consequences.  The former is more satisfying, but we can’t have our cake and eat it, too.  Politics shouts, faith whispers.  You’re either a political firebrand or on fire for the Gospel.  You cannot serve the two masters of politics and faith or magically dissolve their adversarial properties by conflating them.

My fervent hope for this year’s election is that it will cause Christians who are heavily invested in politics to take a deep breath … and accept that neither presidential candidate is a Christian, and true believers have no acceptable choice among the two major parties.  That’s a scary notion at first, but in fact, it is a reality that is desperately ordinary.

This election has hopefully denied many Christians the prideful certainty that their political choices are dripping with biblical correctness.  And if this election helps Christians to recognize that our religious freedom ultimately resides in the absolute power of Almighty God, then it will have been worth every lie, every stupid comment, and every offensive slur that brought us to this point.

So after voting this year, all of us Christians can immediately return to our jobs as ambassadors for Christ, uninhibited by delusions of voting-booth piety and assured that our nation is in God’s hands – whatever the outcome.  By loving God and loving our neighbors – be they white, black, Hispanic, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Muslim, or atheist – we will do more to spread the Gospel than any vote we will ever cast.