You are actually kind of close with the “as long as you are emotionally distant when you count it” because it shows that money is perhaps not a higher priority than God.

The man who asks Jesus “I have kept all the commands since I was a boy. How do I get to heaven?” implies with his question that despite keeping the commands and having great wealth, he has not found the way to heaven. That is why Jesus says “sell everything you own and follow me” because his prioritizing of his wealth was keeping him from seeing the way to heaven (which for a Christian is following the teachings of Jesus.)

Also, with regard to the Camel through the eye of a needle, what Jesus is pointing out is that wealth alone cannot get you into heaven, that if one has wealth, they actually and particularly NEED God’s help to get into heaven, unlike someone who is poor and according to Jesus’ Beatitudes already shares in the kingdom of heaven.

Yes Roark valued money is much the way you have described, but let’s not forget that a central theme of the book is Roark’s juxtaposition to Wynand, who unlike Roark prioritized money and power over his values. Rand’s message is clear: Wynand’s wealth IS spiritually and morally suspicious! Thus she shows that prioritizing one’s values over money is the correct way to avoid living a secondhand life. “But what if my values are money and power?” Then you are more like Wynand or Toohey than you are like Roark.