The main role of a sponsor is twofold:
(1) To take someone through the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts, to give the individual these tools to use in their lives.
(2) To help the sponsee apply those principles.
To this latter end:
The sponsee takes the situation in question (either a situation in which he or she is unclear what to do, or a situation in which he or she is disturbed and cannot shift the disturbance), and asks the following questions:
(a) What are the facts?
(b) How do the Steps, the Traditions, the Concepts, and the literature, including service literature, apply?
(c) Is there any outstanding question?
If it is unclear what the outstanding question is, the work is not complete on (a) and (b). Ask God to guide your thinking and either resolve the situation or work out why you can't resolve it.
Then, and only then, present the situation to the sponsor.
The sponsor's job is to take you on from the furthest point you can reach based on your own knowledge, experience, and relationship with God. A sponsor should not review unprocessed situations but can answer questions arising out of (a), (b), and (c) above.
(1) To take someone through the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts, to give the individual these tools to use in their lives.
(2) To help the sponsee apply those principles.
To this latter end:
The sponsee takes the situation in question (either a situation in which he or she is unclear what to do, or a situation in which he or she is disturbed and cannot shift the disturbance), and asks the following questions:
(a) What are the facts?
(b) How do the Steps, the Traditions, the Concepts, and the literature, including service literature, apply?
(c) Is there any outstanding question?
If it is unclear what the outstanding question is, the work is not complete on (a) and (b). Ask God to guide your thinking and either resolve the situation or work out why you can't resolve it.
Then, and only then, present the situation to the sponsor.
The sponsor's job is to take you on from the furthest point you can reach based on your own knowledge, experience, and relationship with God. A sponsor should not review unprocessed situations but can answer questions arising out of (a), (b), and (c) above.