The idea of "levels" in Orthodox Judaism

I know a Chabad rabbi who keeps referring to “levels” when talking about Judaism. Sometimes he is just referring to mystical things that are more theoretical than things rooted in reality/halacha, but he sometimes refers to “levels” of observance as if it’s a competition. He had some not so nice things to say about Modern Orthodox and kept referring to them as “the lowest level”, as if their conviction and observance is somehow more basic and rudimentary than his own. Is this also very common in Charedi circles? Or did I just speak to a bad apple? I know many other Charedim and they don’t talk like this, but then again, maybe they aren’t expressing their opinions.