The Avodah Institute recognizes a disconnection between faith and work, the so-called "worship-work" gap. What one hears in weekend worship bears little resemblance to weekday work realities. Business and religion often seem to speak different languages.

Theologically speaking, many religious leaders and theologians ignore the needs of business people. Others tend to criticize and devalue the contributions of business and those active in it. Some believe that God has a preferential option for the poor and is against wealth creation, material comforts, and profit-making organizations. At the opposite extreme, the so-called "prosperity gospel" holds that God will lavish financial and material blessings on the truly faithful. People see work itself as everything from a curse to a divine calling.

Commercially speaking, most publicly-traded companies resist overt expressions of faith in the normal conduct of business. Leading universities and business schools relegate or even ignore the possible contributions of articulate religious thinking. Society at large often views religion as a private matter, not considered relevant to or welcome in the public square or the corporate world.

Individually speaking, most people spend significantly more time and energy at their place of work than at their place of worship. Many business people wonder if it is even possible to be a person of faith and a successful professional at the same time. Many people intentionally or unintentionally compartmentalize their faith and work worlds; their worship experience is completely isolated from their work experience and vice versa. Some find it difficult to align actions with beliefs, due to tension between marketplace pressures and faith principles. Many business people, even the most successful, often find little meaning or purpose in their work. Others feel they are not fully using their God-given talents at work.

As a whole, the church or synagogue, business, and academic communities seem ill equipped to address these conundrums, as they do not have the experience or vocabulary to bridge the worlds of faith and work. Individually, many well-intended Christians and people of other religions do not know a concrete way out of these dilemmas. They cannot translate their faith into their professional lives in any meaningful way.

• What is the response?
  Bridge the gap 
• What is the reason to bridge the gap?
  The reason is God.