The Raiders of the Lost Ark Syndrome

What do you think about when you hear someone say that God really blessed them when they won the lottery, the Superbowl, or anything else that takes a total effort to achieve. It always brings me back to the first Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. In that movie the Germans thought that if they could only find the ark that God would bless them and they would win WWII. Ever since I first saw the movie I kept thinking about, "If God would bless them if they had the Ark, does that mean that we would be cursed if we didn't have it." That type of thinking scares me a little bit because I don't believe that God works that way. As Americans we believe we have a special place in God's eyes because we live in such a great country. I call this "God has really blessed me" mentality the Raiders of the Lost Ark Syndrome. Sometimes though that doesn't quite live up to what God's word says. Here's a great thought provoking post on the subject from David Bernstein.