In a Closer To Truth interview, Victoria Harrison explains the importance of spiritual/religious exemplars with regards to the question of "universalism vs. particularism in religion." It's a short (7 min) and important discussion for anyone interested in that question.
In discussing "the aesthetics of a religion", Harrison relates it to "the attractiveness which we might be able to identify within the lives of some people who are living within that religion -- the exemplary practitioners of the religion... It's possible that these people, in the way that they live, may express more about the values inherent within the religion or promoted by the religion than we would find by reading theological books which come from the tradition... The aesthetics of the religion might very much be tied up with what we can perceive in the lives of the people practicing it well."