The Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued a joint election message yesterday in which they warned politicians not to indulge in negative, short-term and self-serving campaigning.
Dr George Carey and Dr David Hope said it was easy to be tempted by such tactics but they did not best serve the interests of society.
In their open letter, they urged political leaders to focus on long-term issues and not "lose sight" of Christian values.
The two leaders of the Church of England also called on worshippers to use their vote - but they avoided recommending any particular party to support.
The letter, entitled That They May Have Life, asserts "At its best, politics is about values", adding: "A political life that loses sight of such values is itself diminished.
"Yet we all sense how tempting it can be, especially in an election season, for the short-term, the negative and the self-serving to dominate the political stage, for the political spotlight to focus less on what is in the long-term interests of us all than on what can inflict the maximum short-term damage on political opponents.
"Not only is that wrong from a Christian perspective, it does not serve the best interests of the society which we all share."
The archbishops write that Jesus said: "I came that they may have life and have it to the full."
His sacrifice, they said, was a gift to others to live their lives unselfishly - a value politicians were urged to embrace.
"How might we gauge whether the cross we mark on the ballot paper shadows the cross of Jesus?" the archbishops asked.
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev James Jones, said: "What the archbishops are trying to do is to encourage people to take the election seriously and not just look at the party manifestos, but to engage with the candidates and to explore with them what their moral and spiritual values are."
The Bishop of Hereford, the Right Rev John Oliver, said he was unhappy about the campaign's emphasis on taxation because it led people to think about their self-interest rather than the common good.