Former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse Gets Frank About Stage 4 Cancer
Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is facing what he has openly called a “death sentence,” but in a recent emotional interview, the former Republican lawmaker made clear that despair is not defining his final chapter — faith is.
Sasse, who represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate from 2015 to 2023 before later serving as president of the University of Florida, revealed months ago that he had been diagnosed with metastatic Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In 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, Sasse spoke candidly about confronting mortality through a deeply Christian lens.
“Once we got diagnosed, we knew that the probability of a relatively near-term death is pretty high,” Sasse said.
Rather than retreat into bitterness, Sasse turned to Scripture.
“And so, A, to live as Christ, to die is gain,” Sasse said.
The former senator explained that he and his wife, Melissa, found immediate peace despite the gravity of the prognosis.
“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,” he added.
A Faith Refined by Suffering
Sasse, who previously served as director of White Horse Inn and executive editor of Modern Reformation at Sola Media, said the diagnosis stripped away illusions about control and self-sufficiency.
“The foolishness of our works are pretty apparent to you when you try to really look at the accounting of a life,” Sasse said. “Jesus did everything on the cross to fulfill the whole law. I fulfilled none of it. He fulfilled all of it.”
In December, he publicly disclosed his condition in a lengthy post on X, writing with characteristic directness:
“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
He did not sugarcoat the severity of the illness.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff, it’s a death sentence,” he wrote. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too, we all do.”
“I’ve got less time than I’d prefer,” Sasse wrote.
During the interview, Sasse described the physical toll of tumors growing around his spinal column and the intense pain that followed.
“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.”
A Sobering Reminder of What Matters
For Sasse, the diagnosis has forced a reevaluation of priorities — family, church, Sabbath observance, and eternal perspective have replaced ambition and public achievement.
“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.”
As he approaches what may be his final Christmas season, Sasse has made clear that his confidence does not rest in political legacy or professional accomplishment, but in the redemptive work of Christ.
In an era often defined by cynicism and self-promotion, Sasse’s testimony stands as a striking reminder of the Christian worldview that undergirds much of America’s moral foundation: life is temporary, accountability is eternal, and grace — not power — is what ultimately endures.