Ben Sasse opens up about faith, terminal cancer diagnosis in emotional interview

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska spoke candidly about his faith and confronting death during an emotional interview published on Wednesday. 

"Once we got diagnosed, we knew that the probability of a relatively near-term death is pretty high," Sasse said during a nearly hour-long conversation with Michael Horton and Dan Bryant, a former assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, published on Sola Media’s YouTube page. 

"And so, A, to live as Christ, to die is gain," Sasse said. "We felt amazingly blessed that Melissa, my wife, and I immediately were at peace about all this. But because one of our three kids is still at home, our girls are 24 and 22, and my son's 14, you felt like you had an obligation to try to fight a little bit."

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Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington, D.C.  (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)

In December, Sasse announced that he had been diagnosed with metastatic stage-four pancreatic cancer, and called it "a death sentence."

Sasse, who had previously served as the director of White Horse Inn and executive editor of Modern Reformation at Sola Media, said his faith has helped him process his diagnosis.

"The foolishness of our works are pretty apparent to you when you try to really look at the accounting of a life," Sasse said, adding, "Jesus did everything on the cross to fulfill the whole law. I fulfilled none of it. He fulfilled all of it."

He also said that the disease has reshaped his understanding of what truly matters, describing many things he once cared deeply about as "pointless."

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Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., listens during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 23, 2022.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

"I have a bunch of tumors that have grown in and around my spinal column, and so, I had some tough pain that was hard to make sense of," he said. "And it definitely shattered idols really fast; lots of dumb stuff that I cared too much about, and I was too self-reliant about, seemed really pointless."

Sasse also reflected on wishing he had placed greater emphasis on attending church and observing the Sabbath.

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Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., ceremonially sworn in by former U.S. vice president Joe Biden with Sasse's wife Melissa Sasse, son Augustin Sasse and daughter Elizabeth Sasse in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2015, in Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"One thing I tell my kids a lot is, 'Man, I wish I'd taken the Lord's Day more seriously more in my life, because it's a really good antidote to all those idolatries,'" Sasse said. "God smashing idols for us is a blessing, and having a death sentence is a really good way."

Sasse served in the Senate from early 2015 through the beginning of 2023, then went on to serve as president of the University of Florida, resigning in 2024 after his wife's epilepsy diagnosis. 

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