Leadership comes on different levels. Armies tend to have ranks; Moses broke it down into leaders of tens, hundreds, and thousands. In Exodus12:38, we are told that Israel left Egypt as a "mixed multitude," but then they were quickly formed into "martial array" (see Exodus 13:18), which means military order. This was the first thing the Lord did to prepare Israel for making it through the wilderness and to possess their Promised Land. We can soon expect this to also happen in the church.

As we have stated, there is a reason why He uses the title "Lord of hosts" or "Lord of armies" more than ten times as much as any other title. He is a martial God—a military leader. His people will become the most awesome army the world has ever seen. We can expect a military demeanor to permeate the advancing church throughout its ranks and a new breed of leader to arise.

Every great captain of thousands almost certainly began as an immature captain of tens. Maturity can only come with the passage of time and experience. In time, someone who began as an immature leader of tens will become a mature leader of tens. Then he will likely get promoted to a leader of hundreds. The Captain said: "If we are faithful in the little things, He will entrust us with greater things" (see Matthew 25:21).

However, that does not mean that person will now be a mature leader of hundreds when promoted. He will, in fact, be an immature leader of hundreds. He will not start as immature as at the previous level because he has the experience of the basics of leadership. Even so, there are dynamics of leading hundreds that will stretch our abilities to be leaders, regardless of how well we understand leadership.

This anointing for leadership is not just about how many people we can lead. Leaders of tens in some places are much better and more mature leaders than those who may be leaders of thousands in other situations. The same is true in our military. A small group of Special Forces may be a far more valuable and potent force than a much larger force of standard troops, so one who can lead the smaller Special Forces group may be a much more effective and valuable leader. There is an anointing or grace for leading numbers, but there are special mandates and commissions from God that may take an even greater type of leader.

In every kind of leadership, we must be able to evaluate the status of the people we are leading so we can lead them further, but we must also be able to evaluate ourselves. Those who become great leaders of tens may think that they now understand leadership, and they may, and may be doing it well on their level. However, there can be a huge difference between leading ten people and leading a hundred. Then there can be another big difference between leading two hundred and leading five hundred or seven hundred. Leading hundreds can prepare us for leading thousands, but there is a big difference that few can comprehend until they are there.

There can be a big difference between understanding something and being able to do it. As a flight instructor, I learned quickly to watch out for students who had read the training manual. These came for flight training with a cocky edge which was apparent by them constantly trying to show me how much they already knew. These students were dangerous, maybe not unteachable, but at least much harder to teach. This always made it take longer to teach them how to fly the airplane. Also, something had to scare and humble them before they could fly solo or they would be dangerous.

Being able to explain the mechanics of how to land a plane and actually being able to land one are different things. As a Christian, I have also watched many gain knowledge about the manual, the Bible, and that knowledge would puff them up because they could not distinguish the difference between having intellectual knowledge of a truth and actually living that truth. In fact, some of the people I've met who have the greatest knowledge of "the deep things of God" have been some of the least Christlike people I've met and have little of His life and power. 

However, reading the manual before beginning their actual flight training worked differently for some. Some were not puffed up by their knowledge, but rather humbled by it. These were the rare ones who cared less about impressing their flight instructor, but were more concerned about learning to fly the airplane. For these, their knowledge of the manual actually aided and sped up their training. Humility makes everything in life easier.

Even so, as a flight instructor I was just as resolved to get the proud ones to be good pilots as I was the humble ones, and I would give the same effort to each. In my observations of how the Lord deals with us, I don't think He gives up on people either just because they are proud. It may be harder and take longer for the proud ones, but He loves them too. However, just as my effort with the humble produced much faster results, the faster we humble ourselves, the easier it will be for us.

Higher levels of flying are identified by higher licenses, such as Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot ratings. In a sense, these are like being captains of tens, hundreds, or thousands because with each higher rating, there is likely a bigger aircraft which will carry more people.

There is a world of difference between flying a Cessna trainer and flying a Boeing 747, even though they both have the same basic controls and flight and navigation instruments. It may take pilots to fly both of them, but there can be a huge difference in them. Likewise, we may all be leaders, but at what level? What do we need to do to be as effective where we are called, and if are going to be promoted, what do we need to do to go to the next level? True disciples are students—ever learning, growing, and seeking more knowledge of their callings and purposes and using the experience to grow in wisdom. Let us be a true disciple every day we are in this life. It is all for the purpose of preparing us for the greatest promotion of all—to rule and reign with Him.