Ben Sasse Says Terminal Cancer Has Clarified Faith, What Truly Matters
Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse says a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer has stripped away illusion and sharpened his understanding of eternity.
Sasse, who represented Nebraska in the Senate spoke honestly about his terminal prognosis and the spiritual reckoning that followed. Facing what doctors describe as an advanced and aggressive disease, he has turned his attention away from what the world values and toward repentance, gratitude and the cross.
“We’re all on the clock,” Sasse said in a post on X. Knowing his time may be short, he reflected, exposes how thin human achievement can be. “The foolishness of our works is pretty apparent to you when you try to really look at the accounting of a life. Jesus did everything on the cross to fulfill the whole law. I fulfilled none of it. He fulfilled all of it.”
Sasse: Physical suffering dismantled previous priorities
Sasse, who had gone on to serve as president of the University of Florida, has described tumors along his spinal column and intense pain that once sent him repeatedly into hot showers for relief. The physical suffering, he said, quickly dismantled priorities he once treated as essential. Ambition faded. Self-reliance weakened. “Lots of dumb stuff that I cared too much about … seemed really pointless,” he acknowledged.
Sasse has also referenced the late pastor Tim Keller, who battled the same disease before his death in 2023. Keller once said that although he hated the cancer, he would not trade the deeper prayer life it produced. Sasse said his own illness has driven him to pray with urgency: “Lord, come quickly.”
He has expressed regret about years spent overworking and neglecting Sabbath rhythms, telling his children that honoring the Lord’s Day guards against the subtle idolatries of career and status.
Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, urged believers to pray for Sasse and his family. In a recent post, Graham noted that Sasse had said the disease “reshaped his understanding of what truly matters,” calling his reflection on Christ’s finished work “so true.” Graham asked supporters to pray for Sasse, his wife Melissa and their three children, that the Lord would “strengthen, help, and uphold them.”
Benjamin Watson regularlyl speaks about faith in public life and has been profiled in Metro Voice. The former NFL tight end offered prayers, encouragement and referenced the hope of the Gospel, thanking Sasse “for all of your words of wisdom, kindness and encouragement” and asking that “the blood of our savior cover you” in his journey.
For Sasse, the diagnosis has narrowed life to its essentials. Titles, applause and policy debates recede. What remains, he has said, is the mercy of Christ — and the hope that death is not the final word.
–Dwight Widaman
