>>49801383
She does act as an example, probably not on purpose, but she does.
Reimu is one of, if not the best danmaku fighters in Gensokyo. Sanae can learn a lot from her on how to fight alone, plus Reimu knows much more about Gensokyo than Sanae does even now.
In turn, Sanae sometimes tries to push Reimu into actually doing her religious duties and tries to light the competitive spirit in Reimu, but whenever she or someone else manages to do that, it's always short lived. Reimu just can't be a religious figure properly.
She also acts as a negative influence at times. Remember "beer pressure"? Pushing your friends to drink really isn't the best thing she's done...