Walking around the CBD last week, I noticed lights, stands, fences, and other F1-related equipment still lining the streets weeks after the show had moved on.

I’ve never been a fan of motorsports and my knowledge of cars is close to zero. Obviously I wasn’t among the 300,000 people who attended this year’s F1 event, which had returned to Singapore in October after a two-season hiatus.

I did, however, catch the race on TV with what must have been millions of others. To my surprise, I found it thrilling to watch at times. The sight of the street circuit from above was impressive, and so were the sound and power of the F1 engines.

What impressed me the most, however, was the fact that motor racing truly is a team sport.

Watching the pit crew and technicians scurry about to prepare for the race, then fuel and fix the cars during the race, helped me appreciate just how many people are needed to keep an F1 team going.

Many fascinating details showed me how closely all members of each team worked together.

For example, each driver stayed in constant communication with his engineers in the garage through the radio, so his teammates were never far from the heat and pressure he felt in the cockpit.

Then there were the pit stops. Occasionally, a car would slide into the pit lane for fuelling, tyre changes, and other adjustments.

Enter the pit crew, another essential part of every racing team. Red Bull’s pit crew took only 2.46 seconds at one pit stop, winning their driver those precious milliseconds that can determine outcomes.

Driver, engineers, pit crew, a host of technicians—all are needed for teams to stay in the race.

In many ways, the modern F1 team resembles Paul’s metaphor of the body. Addressing internal divisions among the Christians at Corinth, the apostle compared the church to the human body, writing:

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable . . . its parts should have equal concern for each other. —1 Corinthians 12:21–22, 25

In a similar vein, some members of the F1 team may go unseen by the public most of the time—the engineers in charge of vehicle maintenance, for instance. Their role is less glamorous than that of the drivers, who take centre stage at every race.

Yet, no team can function with any one element missing. Teams can flourish only when all their components work together, each playing their part.

In fact, the way F1 teams work reminds me of the different roles people play in churches on any given Sunday.

All have an important part to play even before the service starts: chairs need to be laid out, flowers need to be arranged and displayed, instruments need to be tuned, and bulletins may need to be folded.

Then, during the service, those in the sound booth need to ensure the microphones are turned on, and ushers need to help worshippers find their seats. As the service ends, some may need to slip out to attend to other things, like refreshments, meetings, events, Sunday school . . . the list goes on.

Some of us might think that some of these roles don’t matter so much because they aren’t as prominent or visible. “I only help make coffee after service once a month,” I’ve heard some say. Or: “I don’t do much to help at church, I’m only an usher.”

Have you ever felt this way? Do you wonder if your service to the Lord is of any consequence at all? We can all be encouraged by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:27: “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Like the human body, just as it is in F1 racing, being part of the Lord’s body is a team event. All are needed, and all are “indispensable” (v. 22). All of us as members of the team play an important role, no matter how small we may seem.

How assuring it is to know that Jesus values our service!

And like the members of an F1 team, we can take pride in all the things we do in church whether great or small, for we are serving our Master. Ultimately, every act of service is of eternal significance—because we serve someone greater than an earthly and perishable motorsports brand: an eternal and infinite God.

Called by the Lord to service,
In faith and hope we go;
By deeds though small yet weighty,
His lavish love to show.

Lord Jesus Christ,
You lead us to serve You in various ways.
Strengthen our faith
that we may follow Your example of love,
being upheld by the certain hope
that our labour will not be in vain.