Ben Sasse And The Truth
The last couple of days, I have seen some clips from a 60 Minutes program that aired this past Sunday where former Senator Ben Sasse was being interviewed by correspondent Scott Pelly. For those who not aware, Sasse was diagnosed last December with pancreatic cancer, and as of today that cancer has spread throughout his entire body. Sasse is 54 years old, only a couple of years older than I am, and one might think that any man facing such a diagnosis, and terrible prognosis, would cry out in such an interview how unfair life is.
While Sasse is very honest in the interview, stating things such as, “I hate cancer,” “Death is wicked,” and admits he still prays for a miracle, Sasse is also very confident as he faces his anticipated future. In the interview Sasse is upbeat, talks much about the future of the country, talks much about what he believes is wrong and needs to change today in our culture.
To the average individual, one might think Sasse is a bit pollyannish, or maybe has a bit of a screw loose, since his impending death seems pretty certain. But after the first half of the interview, Pelly mentions Sasse’s faith, which he labels as “reformed Christianity” and “Calvinism”. Sasse attends a Church that is in the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), a fairly conservative stream of Presbyterianism that holds strongly to much Biblical truth.
And this is where Sasse begins to share the truth that undergirds how he is thinking through, and sorting through, all that he is experiencing. One of the first things Sasse says is that in the grand scheme of things, him getting cancer is pretty small, pretty insignificant. He then adds that getting cancer is also a “touch of grace”, which may seem incredulous, but he calls it a touch of grace because it forces him to tell the truth.
He goes on to say, “I tell a lot more truth to myself than I used to when I thought I was super omni-competent and interesting.” Notice what Sasse confesses here, that when he felt strong, when he felt so competent and confident in himself, there were times when he was not as honest as he should have been, but now in this new weakness, he is more honest, more truthful. His testimony is so consistent with Paul’s testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong” (Legacy Standard Bible).
Perry hears much of this and states, “Cancer has made you closer to God,” to which Sasse replied, “Definitely, because I can acknowledge my dependence in a new way.” Once again, we can see how the honesty, the truth, of recognizing his weakness has grown a greater dependence on God in Sasse’s life. It was not that Sasse was not dependent before, rather it is that he now sees more clearly, with an honesty he did not have before, just how needy he is, and how God is his only provision.
Towards the end of the interview, Perry himself gets emotional, referring to a time when he believed he was in his last minutes of his life, and the thought on his mind was leaving his family behind, so he asks Sasse how he reconciles with all of this. Sasse initially reviews his family, beginning with his wife and two older daughters, doing a quick evaluation on them, and how they are so strong and will be okay without him. Then Sasse speaks of his 14 year old son, and shares how he wishes he could be there when his grows taller, how he would like to be there for him, and he confesses he is “super bummed” about this.
Then Sasse makes another truthful statement, and he says, “But it’s not a surprise to God.” He confesses the truth that God had this planned, and Perry picks up on this as he says, “And God, you believe, has a plan.” To which Sasse replied, “Absolutely, there are no maverick molecules in the universe.” I do not know if Sasse picked this up from the theologian R. C. Sproul, but I do know I have heard him emphasize God’s sovereignty using a similar statement.
I would encourage you to listen to the interview, and if you are less interested in the politics, then you can fast forward through about half of it. Here is a link to it on YouTube. Sasse Interview. I do not know a lot about Sasse other than what I saw in this interview, but I would argue that at a minimum, he is a living example of something I desire to believe myself, as well as teach our people at Norton Baptist, which is that God is absolutely sovereign over all things, and God is absolutely good in all that he does. Sasse proves that believing these two things, can strengthen us for every trial we face in this life.
