Aloha Barbara .... and the answer is yes, yes, yes. And sponsorship is a mutual agreement to recovery.  It is the give and take and the listen and learn and the open-mindedness.  Sponsorship is a humble responsibility on both sides with a large dose of acceptance and detachment.  It isn't a perfect relationship because both are human and powerless.  Both come from a place of disease.  Both need to exercise the spritual principles of the program in order for it to work. (acceptance, patience, unconditional love, compassion, honesty etc. etc.) 

Reading your post reminded me of the grace the program gave me and allowed me to use when I thought that my sponsor was "less than". (not reserved only for my alcoholic and everyone else on the face of this earth when my egotistical, judgemental, self-centeredness was full time.) The "grace" I was given was, If your sponsor is not available use other group contacts because you need to; otherwise I made a decision to stay sick.  Another "grace" is take what you like and leave the rest; my sponsor is not god and has yet to show me that he can walk on water.  Instead he has shown me over and over that he is human and needs a sponsor himself.  I don't hold him to being perfect, just supportive, compassionate and a listener with experience to share with me whether I like it or not and inspite of whether I use it or not.  The responsibility and consequences are mine.  I do not blame my sponsor.  Another grace I was give was; If my sponsor doesn't seem to be supportive? fire them and get another or if I can handle it get another sponsor (2) and a second opinion.

We have suggestions, steps, traditions, concepts or service and warrantees and we have hopefully the desire to change.  We are responsibile for our recovery.

Don't ever let anything get in the way of your desire to change.  The consequence is that you will stay, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically sick. We will abandon our Higher Power and blame it on our Higher Power and everything and everyone else.

I at times will call my sponsees and usually because I think that there might be an unresolved issue and I want to check on their status.  I hold my sponsees responsible to their own recovery and do not accept blame for the consequences of their choices.  Neither do I accept kudos for their successes.  I listen and learn from my sponsees and try to respond humbly with compassion and unconditional love. I am not perfect in anyway, shape or form and when I screw up and respond inappropirately I apologize as quickly as I can.  I am also disabled (hearing) so I double focus and ask for clarification of the issue if we are doing that.  If we are sharing good recovery gains, I express gratitude to Higher Power, the program and to my sponsee.  I can be fired and will accept any discision my sponsees make without using  judgement or control.  Detachment and acceptance is mutually exercised along with dignity and respect. 

I cannot treat my sponsees any different than I have learned to treat my alcoholic or wish to be treated myself.

Hope I wasn't too lengthly but yours is an very important question and I needed the program's ESH while working with a overwhelmed, fearful, defensive, angry and spiritually upset sponsee this morning.  He left with a smile and no guarantee of perfection; experience, strength and hope that was given to me by many many others in recovery, affirmations on his recovery awareness and a reminder of his relationship with a Power Greater than himself that he has and can continue to rely on.

This is the long version isn't it?  Take what you like and.....

Keep coming back (((((hugs)))))