Communal living still requires that the pull their weight or else they are exiled. That was true with communal living of early Christianity and any other society with communal living.

The mistake people make comparing communal living to communism is that communal living involves everyone holding each other accountable while sharing responsibility. Communism doesn't hold everyone accountable and the responsibility isn't shared.

Think of communal living as a barter system where you contribute goods in exchange for access to other goods in the community. Similar to a social contract between citizen and state with taxes and a federal system.